A new beginning
by ilse23
Summary: Letting go can be so hard. But what happens you've finally let go and the games change? A Jallen story. Sequel to A Christmas to remember.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A new Jallen story. It's a sequel to A Christmas to remember and it continues after Cancel Christmas. Hope you like it.**

 **I don't own any of the characters of NCISLA or the show.**

* * *

Callen loved his life with Joelle. It was hard for her in the beginning when she found out who he really was. That was almost a year ago now. Callen could tell that Joelle was struggling with it lately. Couldn't she deal with his work after all? Callen felt like that they were going downhill and either she would break up with him or he would break up with her. He really liked spending time with her. After Callen had gotten the furniture for his house, Callen and Joelle spend a lot of time at Callen's place. Callen had even thought about asking her to move in with him, but lately he wasn't sure if that would be a good move.

Christmas was coming up soon, Callen liked the idea of spending it with Joelle but he didn't know if that would be fair to either one of them, considering the state their relationship was in, both of them felt it was coming to an end.

"So I was thinking," Joelle spoke as they were having breakfast. "Christmas is in a week. I don't have any plans for the holidays. Do you?"

"No I don't. I'm off from work so now cases."

"Well I was thinking, since we're both alone maybe we could spend Christmas together. Just so we're not alone."

"Sounds fine by me. You can come by here and I'll cook us something."

"Well, do you have to work on Christmas Eve?"

"I think so yeah."

"Why don't I come over here then and cook us up something?"

"Sure that sounds good too."

"What about gifts?"

"I don't necessarily need a gift, how about we give to our favorite charities instead? They can always use the money maybe give the less fortunate a nice Christmas."

"That's actually a good idea."

….

It was the day before Christmas Eve. After Callen was finished with work he went to his house. Joelle was already waiting for him there.

"Hey Jo," Callen greeted her as he walked into the house.

"Hey Callen, I'm in the kitchen."

Callen walked towards the kitchen. "Hmm it smells good in here." Callen gave Joelle a friendly kiss on the cheek.

"It's almost finished, can you set the table?"

"Of course."

Callen grabbed some plates and cutlery and set the table.

"So how was your day?" Joelle asked as they sat down to eat.

"It was good. Just got a small case and the rest of the day I worked on some paperwork."

"Ah yes paperwork, it needs to be done too."

"Yeah and considering I'm the team leader I have more paperwork than the others, I don't like it but it's part of the job. How was your day?"

"Good, quiet. Went to buy groceries and just relaxed around the house before I came over here."

Once they had finished dinner they cleaned up and sat down on the couch together. While they were watching a movie Joelle crawled closer to him, lay down her head on his shoulder and Callen wrapped his arms around her. It was nice lying like this, Callen had to admit. He would miss this. He would miss Joelle, but it was not fair to her to keep her in this relationship. It clearly wasn't working for them. Once the movie had finished Joelle cleaned up their glasses and snacks as Callen locked up. Joelle was already in bed when Callen joined her. Callen moved closer to her and kissed her. Joelle wrapped her arms around him and Callen kissed her deeply. Callen would totally miss this. Callen deepened the kiss even more and move on top of her. If they were going to break up he would at least have one last time with her. Joelle didn't complain when Callen moved his hands underneath her pajama top so he figured she wanted this too. Callen stopped kissing her momentarily so he could take her pajama top off. Callen kissed down her neck and down her body as he disappeared underneath the covers.

Joelle was in heaven as Callen worked her body. He was just amazing whenever they made love. She really cared about him and liked spending time with him, but his work…. She didn't think she would ever get used to it. But this man, he was so sweet and gorgeous and kind. And those blue eyes of his, they were so gorgeous. Joelle really liked him, no loved him. But she couldn't live like this, waiting for him to come home, wondering if he might not come home at all. The thoughts were pushed out of her mind as she found herself getting closer.

When Joelle had finished Callen crawled back up and positioned himself in between her legs. Joelle held onto Callen for dear live as he started moving. He was just so good and passionate whenever they made love. Callen buried his face in her neck and memorized everything about her. He would so miss her, miss kissing her, miss making love to her, miss talking to her, but it just wasn't fair to either one of them.

Callen and Joelle were woken up the next morning when Callen's alarm went off at 8am.

"Good morning Jo," Callen greeted her and gave her a kiss.

"Good morning Callen."

"I have to go get ready for work. Sam's coming to pick me up in a half an hour."

Callen slipped out of bed and got in the shower.

Just before 8.30am Callen heard the front door open, he knew it was Sam. Fully dressed Callen came out of the kitchen.

"Seriously, G? No wreath, no Christmas tree, no menorah? So sad, so sad," Sam remarked as he looked around Callen's place.

"Why? Cus I don't get sucked into the commercialism of the holidays?"

Last year Callen did decorate his house, but this year Callen just didn't feel like it. Last year he did it for Joelle and because he invited her over to his place for the first time but this year he just feel like it.

"Cus you're too lazy to decorate."

Callen pointed to the fireplace mantel where a Christmas card stood. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, yeah, you're a regular Martha Stewart."

"Thank you. Can we go now?"

Sam opened the card and saw that it was from Janvier. "Are you freaking kidding me?! Janvier sent you a Christmas card from prison?"

"Every year. What, you don't get one?"

"The only other card that you received is from a one-armed psychopath who wants to kill you?"

"Well, it's the thought that counts. My aliases get lots of cards."

"And why is it next to my family?"

"It's the spirit of the season. Plus, I mean, you know, it's a funny card. See? Snowman's melting in the Jacuzzi?"

Suddenly Joelle came out of the bedroom. "Morning Sam," Joelle spoke.

Sam looked behind him. He didn't expect Joelle to be here. "Morning Joelle."

Joelle walked off to the kitchen. Sam watched her since she was only wearing one of Callen's shirts. He thought his partner would break up with her.

"Christmas came early," Callen simply stated. Callen grabbed his bag and followed Sam out the door. "See you later Joelle."

"See you Callen," Joelle called from the kitchen."

"This is none of my business," Sam spoke as they walked to the car.

"Nope."

"But seeing as Joelle is a friend of Michelle and me."

"Mm, pretty sure I'm a friend of you and Michelle."

"You are, and I don't want to see either one of you get hurt. You said you were breaking up with her."

"I am. I did, but we're both gonna be alone for the holidays and….."

"You're coming to my place."

"That's not the same."

"Nothing says "peace on earth and goodwill toward men" like a booty call."

"Well, 'tis the season. Here, this'll cheer you up," Callen replied and tossed Sam a package. "Put the nose on the front, antlers on the windows. Makes your car look like Rudolph."

"The hell it does." Sam tossed the package back to Callen.

"Oh, I get it. You give me grief over how I decorate my house, but when I get you a gift to get you in the holiday spirit…"

"I'm not putting reindeer antlers and a Rudolph nose on my car!"

"It's Christmas."

"It's stupid." Callen opened the package and moved to the front of the car. "I'm warming you- don't do it. Seriously, don't put that on my car." Callen however didn't listen and put the nose on the hood of the car. "Come on, G. It's coming off as soon as we get to work."

Softly humming Callen moved back to the car and put the antler on his side of the car and got in the car.

"You play too much, man."

Callen handed the package with just one antler still in it to Sam who tossed it out of the window.

"All right, well, now it is gonna look stupid with just one antler." Sam started the car. "No." And drove off. "I should take you in for littering."

Despite that he and Joelle were breaking up Callen still was in a good mood today. He had liked spending time with Joelle last night and he would enjoy spending time with her today. Unfortunately the case ran a little longer than expected. Callen packed his bag and got ready to go home.

"Enjoy your holidays," Kensi and Deeks spoke as they walked off.

"Thanks you too," Callen and Sam replied.

"See you after the holidays G," Sam spoke as left as well.

Hetty handed Callen a little present, his back up gift for Joelle.

"Merry Christmas Hetty."

"Merry Christmas Mr. Callen."

Callen walked out and went home. He heard soft Christmas music playing in the background as he walked into the house.

"I'm sorry I'm late, took longer than I expected, I," Callen spoke and stopped as he looked around the house. There were some Christmas decorations. "Where did all this come from?"

"I brought it from home. I just thought we should have a nice dinner."

Callen noticed the gift lying on the table. "Uh, and what is that?"

"It's- it's just something little." Joelle stood up. "Now, I know we agreed, but I…" Callen pulled the gift out of his bag.

"Uh uh."

Joelle took the package and smiled at him. "I was so worried about you."

Callen put his bag down on the ground. "Oh, come one, I told you- you don't have to worry about me."

"But I will as long as you do this."

"I know."

"My New Year's resolution is gonna be no dating people who might not come at night."

Callen looked at her. She was now officially breaking up with him. She couldn't deal with his job after all. Callen was going to miss her but he felt the same thing, it just wasn't working anymore.

"So we have till New Year's? Yeah?"

"Yeah," Joelle replied with a smile.

Callen pulled her closer and kissed her. At least he still had till New Year's with her. They sat down at the table and had their dinner.

….

New Year's Eve came around. Callen and Joelle had agreed to spend it together, one last night together. They had a lovely dinner and enjoyed the evening together on the couch with some drinks and snacks. Callen grabbed the champagne just before midnight. They both counted down and wished each other happy New Year. They enjoyed the champagne and snacks and stood watching the fireworks. After the fireworks Callen pulled Joelle to him and kissed her deeply. All kissing they walked to the bedroom. They made love one last time. Even though they both knew it would be the last they still enjoyed it very much. It wasn't that they didn't care about each other, they did. Just the two of them together wasn't working.

Joelle fell asleep in Callen's arms. Callen just looked up to the ceiling. He was going to the miss her very much. He really liked Joelle, he loved Joelle. It just wasn't working. After everything Joelle couldn't deal with the fact that Callen was a special agent. Would it be fair to either one of them to keep this relationship going? Callen knew it and Joelle knew it too. It wasn't fair. Saying goodbye would be hard but this relationship just wasn't meant to be. Callen pulled Joelle even closer and eventually fell asleep as well.

The next morning after breakfast Joelle packed up her stuff.

"Well I guess this is goodbye," Joelle spoke as she stood by the front door.

"Yeah I guess it is."

Joelle stepped forward and gave Callen a hug. Callen pulled her tighter into an embrace and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm gonna miss you Jo."

"I'm gonna miss you too Callen. I really liked the time we spent together."

"Me too. I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

"Yeah probably not."

Joelle and Callen released each other. Joelle gave Callen one last kiss. "Take care Callen."

"Thanks you too."

Callen watched as Joelle left. She got in her car and drove off, driving out of his life. Callen was going to miss her terribly but it wouldn't be fair to her or to him to keep this relationship going. Callen went back inside. The house felt empty without Joelle there. It would take some getting used to, that she wasn't here anymore. Callen loved coming home to her, loved waking up next to her. The bed would feel empty without her in it. This was the first real relationship Callen had had. He actually liked this side of him. He had come to trust Joelle and he had let her in, let her peak over his walls and now she was gone. Would he ever be able to do this with someone else?

Sam had always nagged at him that he should be in a relationship, but Callen never saw the interest in that. But now that he had been with Joelle he actually liked it. He was seeing things differently now, maybe it would be good for him to settle down. He thought he wanted to do that with Joelle and he thought she wanted that too. Sometimes he thought about giving up his job as a federal agent to be with Joelle, but this was who he was. If he wasn't a special agent he wouldn't know what else he would be. He liked his job and he was good at it. Sam was lucky to have Michelle, Michelle knew what it's like to be a federal. And Kensi and Deeks had each other, so they both knew what it's like. Maybe Callen was destined to be alone for the rest of his life.

…

When Monday came around the holidays were over and Callen had to go back to work.

"Morning G," Sam spoke as Callen got in the car.

"Morning Sam, did you have nice holidays?"

"Yes just spent them with my family. How about you? How did it go with you and Joelle?"

"It was fine, but it's over now."

"I'm sorry G."

"See said that her New Year's revolution was going to be no dating people who might not come home at night."

"I'm sorry G, I know how much you like her."

"Yeah I do and she cared a lot about me too but it just wasn't working. I miss her but it's no use to keep this relationship going if we're not both fully in it. It's just not fair."

"No it's not. Don't worry G. You'll find someone someday."

"Maybe I should just rethink my whole no dating cops rule. They are probably the only people who understand what it is that I do."

"Relationships are hard with the job that we do."

"You're lucky that you got Michelle. She knows what it's like."

"Yeah she does, but that doesn't mean she always likes it what I do. She does worry about me, that's what you do for people you love."

"I really miss Joelle."

"Of course you do G, that's normal. But cheer up G, you'll always have me," Sam spoke with a smile.

Callen smiled back to his partner before turning his head back to the window. Callen just looked out of the window for the rest of the drive.

After all the agents were at the office Eric appeared at the top of the stairs and whistled. "Holidays are over."

Eric went back to OPS, knowing the others would follow him.

"What have we got Eric?"

"A shooting in front of the federal building," Eric told them as he put footage of the shooting on the big screen.

"Anyone hurt?" Kensi asked.

"Just a few bystanders got hurt, but this man." Eric zoomed in on the footage. "We believe he was the target. He's in surgery right now."

"Who is he?" Callen asked.

"His name is Clint Miller, his job involves in relocating witnesses in the witness protection program."

"Why shoot him then?" Deeks remarked causing the other team members to look at him. "I mean, if he's helping the witness protection program it would makes sense that the person who shot him was looking for a witness, so why shoot him then?"

"Maybe the killer noticed Miller found out something he wasn't supposed to," Kensi added.

"Any ID on the shooter?" Sam asked.

"No nothing yet. We never get a clear shot of his face," Nell told them.

"Alright, Kensi, Deeks, you go to the hospital see when you can talk to Miller. Sam and I will head over to the crime scene."

Knowing what they needed to do the agents left and the two techs went to work. Sam drove him and Callen to the crime scene and they showed their badges to get onto the crime scene. They gloved up and looked at the crime scene. Some blood lay here and there and some spend shell casings.

"Looks like a nine mil," Callen spoke as he picked up one of the shell casings. "The casing seems clean, no finger prints."

Callen looked around to see if he maybe could find some bullets, maybe they could match it to a gun. From the footage Eric had showed them Callen knew where the shooter stood. From there Callen went to search for bullets. He found one lodged into the wall next to the steps. Callen took a picture of it and pulled the bullet out. There seemed to be a print on it. Callen put it in a bag and took it to a CSU cop. She dusted it for prints and one popped up. Callen took a picture of it and sent it to Nell and Eric. Callen wanted to go back to searching when he saw a suspicious motorbike driving by.

"GUN!" Callen yelled and everyone quickly took cover before the man started shooting.


	2. Chapter 2

Callen grabbed his gun as he ducked behind the small wall that was on the side of the curb. When the shooting stopped Callen carefully peeked his head above the wall. He saw the motorbike riding away. Callen ran after it and tried to shoot at it but he was already too far gone. Callen looked back to the scene, some people had been hit. Callen quickly called it in and asked Eric to search for the shooter.

"You okay Sam?" Callen asked as he made his way to his partner.

"Yeah I'm good. You?"

"Good too. Eric's trying to find the motorbike."

"Did you get a good look at him?"

"Nah no luck, he was wearing a helmet and the glass was tinted so no luck."

"Why would he shoot at us?"

"Maybe what Miller was involved in he didn't want us to find out or maybe Miller wasn't the intended target and he came back to finish the job. I'll have Eric and Nell look through the footage to see who he was aiming at."

Once Callen and Sam finished up at the scene they went back to the office. When they walked into the bullpen Kensi and Deeks walked in as well.

"How did it go at the hospital?" Callen asked.

"Unfortunately he didn't make it," Kensi told him. "How did you guys make out?"

"Well we were shot at."

"What? By who?" Deeks wondered.

"We were looking at the scene when a guy on a motorbike showed up and he started shooting. We don't know who he is or why he was there. Eric and Nell are looking into that now."

It was about two hours later when Eric and Nell came down the stairs.

"No ID on the shooters yet but from the second shooting we think we determined who he was shooting at," Eric spoke and he put the footage on the screen.

The agents looked at it.

"He was after me?" Callen remarked surprised.

"It seems that way."

"We looked at the two shooters," Nell continued. "But it appears that it were two different shooters. They don't match in height."

"So two different shooters," Sam said. "One of them showed up first and opened fired knowing the case would be brought to us and then the second shooter showed up to take G out? It doesn't make any sense."

"I know it doesn't, but that's what the footage is telling us. Now it could be a coincidence that he shot at Callen, but we have to assume the other possibility too." Nell's tablet beeped. "We just got confirmation on one of the bikes, the bike from the first shooter, it's registered to a Brandon Stevens."

"Name doesn't ring a bell," Callen spoke. "Do you have an address for us?"

"Yeah it's on your phones."

"Alright, Sam and I will check it out."

Callen and Sam left and drove to the address.

"What if someone is really after you..." Sam spoke once they were in the car.

"Wouldn't be the first time. It's just weird if they would go about it this way. I mean they could have send anyone to the crime scene at the federal building after the shooting."

"Yeah, it's a long shot to get to you."

Sam drove them to Stevens' house. Sam parked the car a little down the road with a view of the house. They would wait until Stevens came or went.

"So, how are you doing G?"

"I'm doing good. Why you ask?"

"Just asking after this whole thing with Joelle."

Callen sighed. "We both agreed that it wasn't working and that this was the best thing for both of us. I miss her but it's fine."

"You two were practically living together already. You even bought furniture for her."

"I know. Just for the record, I didn't buy the furniture just for her. It was time I got some more furniture."

"You're damn right about that."

"I really liked spending time with her but it just wasn't working anymore. It wasn't fair to either one of us. It's fine, I'm over it. Okay, so just drop it okay."

"Okay." Although Sam could tell Callen wasn't over it he decided to drop it.

"Here he comes," Callen said when he saw a car drive onto the driveway.

Callen and Sam got out of the car and walked up to the house when Stevens exited his car.

"Brandon Stevens," Sam called and Brandon turned around.

"Yes, what's this about?"

"Federal agents, we wanna talk to you about a shooting this morning."

The moment Sam said federal agents Brandon froze up and Callen saw his hand moving. Callen and Sam both had their hand on their weapon.

"Keep your hands where we can see them," Callen warned him.

Brandon stopped for a second but then moved his hand inside his jacket. Before Callen and Sam knew it he had pulled out a gun. Callen and Sam quickly dove behind the car parked in front of the house. Whenever they could they shot at him. Eventually Callen managed to hit him.

"Down," Callen spoke and he and Sam moved in.

Callen kept his gun on Brandon as Sam removed the gun from his reach and checked him. He was still alive, Callen had shot him in the shoulder.

"Eric, we're gonna need an ambulance, Stevens has been shot, Sam and I are fine."

"Copy that," the tech replied.

Callen and Sam waited until the EMT's were there. They took Stevens to the hospital. Callen and Sam went inside and looked through the house. Maybe they could find something why Stevens was involved with the shooting. Callen found a laptop and a cell phone, he would take those back for Eric and Nell. They couldn't really find anything on why Stevens would be involved with the shooting. Maybe Eric and Nell would have some luck with finding something on the laptop. Callen and Sam went back to the office. Kensi and Deeks had gone to the hospital so they could question Stevens. When Callen and Sam arrived Nell was just downstairs.

"Ah Nell, got something for you. A laptop and cell phone found at Stevens' place. See what you can get off of it."

"Will do."

Nell took the laptop and cell phone and went to the gadget room.

About an hour later Kensi and Deeks came back from the hospital.

"And, did he give you anything?" Callen asked as Kensi and Deeks walked into the bullpen.

"At first not but we manage to get him to talk. He said that he and his partner were hired by someone, they were told to open fire on the federal building and once the authorities showed up shoot again."

Callen could see that there was something more. "And? What else?"

"They were told to aim for you at the crime scene."

"They were after me, after all?"

"It seems that way."

"Why? Who hired them?"

"He said he didn't know. His partner handled the contact with him."

"Did he give you his partner's name?"

"Yes, a Michael Roberts. Eric's already checking on him."

Nell couldn't find anything useful on the laptop or cell phone so she went back upstairs to help Eric.

Two hours later the two techs came downstairs.

"We found some information you have to see," Eric announced.

"What have you got?" Callen asked.

"We looked into Roberts and in his email accounts we found out who hired him." Eric pressed a few keys on his tablet and the email appeared on the screen. "The email explains what Roberts and Stevens were supposed to do. It said specifically to get you."

"How could they know I would be there?"

"They didn't, it also said if you didn't show up there to try again."

"Who hired him?"

Eric and Nell looked at each other and Eric enlarged the screen so the name would be better visible. Callen looked at the screen and was shocked to see the name there.

"Bogdan Comescu," Callen spoke with anger in his voice. Damn it, again a Comescu was after him. "Do you have a location on either one of them?"

"We managed to track the motorbike Roberts used to this West Hollywood house. Now we checked the security cameras and just ten minutes ago this car pulled up," Nell explained.

Nell zoomed in as the passenger got out of the car.

"That's Comescu," Callen said.

"Yes and we believe he's still at the house."

"Good work, let's gear up guys."

They grabbed their gear and drove to the West Hollywood house. They parked the car a little down the street and carefully made their way to the big house.

"Kensi, Deeks, go around back. Sam and I will take the front."

Kensi and Deeks went around back as Callen and Sam made their way to the front door. Sam knocked on the front door.

"Michael Roberts, federal agents! Open up!" Sam yelled.

The door didn't open so Sam kicked it in. Immediately they had to duck away from flying bullets. The moment they heard the bullets flying Kensi and Deeks burst through the back door. Once the front door was clear Sam and Callen moved in the house as well. They found a beaten up Roberts tied to a dining room chair but no sign of Bogdan Comescu.

"Where's Comescu?" Callen asked Roberts. "Tell me, where is he?'

They heard some noise in the garage. Callen looked through the window and saw Comescu making a run for it. Without thinking twice he ran outside. Comescu was getting in the car. Just as Callen reached the sidewalk Comescu pulled away from the curb. Callen stood in the middle of the street and shot after him. Callen managed to shoot out one of the tires causing Comescu to crash into a tree. Callen quickly ran up to the car with Sam hot on his heels. Gun raised he walked up to the car. Comescu was still alive. Callen kept his gun on him.

"It's over Comescu," Callen bitterly spoke to him. Callen pulled Comescu out of the car and cuffed him. "Get him out of my sight."

Sam took Comescu from Callen and took him away. Callen couldn't believe that there was another Comescu after him. Luckily they had captured Bogdan and the others.

They wrapped up there before going back to the office. They finished their paperwork before going home. Callen walked into the empty house, it was still a bit getting used to for him. Sam was right, Joelle was practically living at Callen's place. It was still weird to not see her when he would come home from work, not smelling her delicious cooking coming out of the kitchen. He missed her more than he would let on to Sam and the others. He thought about giving up his job so he could be with Joelle but being a federal agent is who he is and Joelle had told him not to give his job up just for her. He just wished they could have made it work somehow. He tried to share as must information about his job as he could with Joelle, hoping she would understand it better and not worry so much. He knew his job put him at risk but he was always careful when he was out in the field, well most of the time anyway, and he had Sam to back him up, even if Callen didn't want it or thought he needed it. Sam was lucky to have someone who understands what it's like to be an agent. Maybe that was the only way for him to have a real relationship, with a fellow agent or cop. But that didn't coincide with Callen's rules. Maybe he should just forget about those rules, but then again there wasn't a female agent or cop he had in mind who he could see himself dating. He still had strong feelings for Joelle. He was hoping that she would change her mind and come back to him. He had told Sam he was over it but he wasn't just yet. He had accepted that she was out of his life but he still missed her. He loved waking up next to her almost every morning, loved her cooking, loved spending time with her and he loved making love to her. It felt just right when they were together. She really was a sweet person. Callen had never seen her at work but he could tell that she was a great teacher. Callen was sure one day Joelle would make a great mom. He just wanted her to be happy. He had wanted that to be with him but it wasn't going to happen.

Callen missed her as he looked around his house. Her smell was still hanging in the house. Callen stepped up to the mantel and pulled a picture off of it. It was a picture of him and Joelle. It was a selfie Joelle had made, it was a really beautiful selfie so Callen had it printed and framed. They looked happy in this picture. Maybe if Joelle hadn't found out what he really did for a living they'd still be together but perhaps that wouldn't have been fair to her either. Before things had gone south Callen had thought about asking Joelle to move in with him permanently, but he didn't know if he, if they, were ready for that and then things turned differently that he would have thought and now he was here alone, no more Joelle in his life. Callen put the picture back on the mantel and went to the kitchen. He pre-heated the oven and put the pizza in it. He sat at the dinner table to enjoy his pizza and bear. It was still a bit strange to eat alone, of course Callen had been used to it before and while he was with Joelle he ate alone sometimes too but he had liked it to share a meal with Joelle, especially if she had cooked it. Her cooking was really delicious. She had taught Callen a few things and Callen could actually cook now.

After dinner Callen watched some TV before going to bed. Ever since he and Joelle had slept in the same bed his sleeping patterns had changed, he slept more now and he had to admit it felt good. Once in bed Callen turned the side where Joelle would lay, the bed felt empty without her. Callen wondered if Joelle missed him too. Besides Callen's job thingy they had a good thing going. Callen was glad that they still had spent the holidays together, one last holiday together. It had been a nice holiday, despite the fact that they said goodbye. Callen remembered New Year's Eve very well. It was such a nice evening with Joelle and their last time sleeping together was really wonderful. They both put everything in it for their last time together. Callen could still feel her skin underneath his fingers, his lips against hers, her hands roaming over his body, the way she clung to him. It was just perfect whenever they were together like that.

When he woke up the next morning he took a nice long cold shower to cool down before going to work. He changed into his gym clothes and went to do some exercises.

"Morning G," Sam spoke as he walked into the gym a few minutes later.

"Morning Sam."

They did some separate trying before sparring together for about twenty minutes. Eric came down to the gym and told them they were needed in OPS. They grabbed a quick shower before going up to OPS.

….

That Saturday afternoon Callen went to do some groceries. His kitchen cabinets and fridge were getting empty. He was looking through the fruits. He reached the grab some but he bumped into a woman next to him who was reaching for the same fruit.

"Oh I'm sorry," Callen spoke and then he saw who it was. "Hey Joelle."

Joelle looked up surprised. She wasn't expecting to see Callen. "Hi Callen."

"How are you doing?"

"I'm doing good. How about you?"

"Good, busy at work again. It was nice to see you again but I've gotta get going, Sam is coming to pick me up soon."

"That's fine. It was nice to see you too. Say hello to Sam for me."

"I will."

Callen and Joelle grabbed their fruit and continued their shopping. Callen was busy putting his groceries into the car when he heard a car screeching over the parking lot. Callen looked to see what was going on. The car was driving really fast over the parking lot. He saw Joelle walking in the parking lot. The car was going in her direction.


	3. Chapter 3

Callen ran over to Joelle as quickly as he could. Callen pushed her to the side, making them fall on the ground, just before the car swerved past. Callen looked at the car to get the license plate.

"You okay Jo?" Callen asked.

"Yeah I'm good."

Callen pulled out his phone and called it in to LAPD.

"You sure you're good?" Callen spoke as he helped Joelle up.

"Yeah I'm good. Thank you for saving me."

"No problem. You sure you're good? I didn't hurt you or anything?"

"No Callen I'm fine."

"Okay good. Let me get these groceries for you."

Callen picked the groceries up and walked Joelle to her car. He put the groceries in the car.

"Thank you Callen."

"You're welcome Joelle. Have a good day."

"Thanks Callen, you too."

Callen turned around and walked back to his car.

"Callen wait," Joelle called after him. Callen turned back around. "I feel like I should thank you with something for saving my life."

"It's okay Joelle, that's not necessary. I would have done it for anyone. It just so happened to be you this time."

Callen had to distance himself for this. What if Joelle wanted to thank him with dinner or something? He was starting to get over her, having dinner with her now wouldn't be a good idea.

"Still I feel like I should thank you with something."

"Just a thank you is enough. I should get going, Sam will be by my place to pick me up shortly. Perhaps I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see ya."

Joelle watched as Callen left. She really wanted to do something for him for saving her life but she wasn't sure what. Asking him to dinner or something wouldn't work. They had just broken up. Joelle was still trying to get over Callen and by the looks of it Callen was too. Had she really made the right decision by breaking up with Callen? Her life felt a bit empty without him in it. She missed spending time with him, just cuddling up to him on the couch or in bed. She always had a good time whenever she was with Callen but it was his job. Joelle had tried it but she just couldn't get past it. She just couldn't stop worrying about him whenever he was at work. Had she made a mistake? Had she given up on them too soon? Was there perhaps a way to deal with his job and the dangers? She really did still love him. She knew that they both loved each other, that wasn't the problem, she just couldn't deal with his work, deal with that worry all the time. But she did really love him, shouldn't she make a sacrifice and try harder? She could never ask Callen to just give up his job so they could be together. She had tried to get past it but it just wasn't working. Joelle took a deep sigh and got in the car.

She thought that she was finally starting to get over Callen but then she saw him again today and all those feelings came back up again. She could see those feelings in Callen too, clearly he wasn't over her yet either. But what if they would get together again, what's to say that she wouldn't start feeling the same again, feel like she couldn't deal with all that worry. Sure Callen had told her not to worry about him. From what Joelle had gathered Callen was a great federal agent, Sam had told her so to try to lessen her worry and that he would be there to protect his back, but still Joelle couldn't help but worry. She really wanted to be with Callen but she felt like she could never get over this worry. Was being with Callen worth all this worry? She had felt trapped in their relationship, stuck in a corner she didn't think she could get out of. Maybe all she needed was some time apart, but could they really get back together again? Would Callen want do? Would she actually want to?

Once home Callen put away the groceries and waited for Sam to pick him up. They were going to a basketball game.

"You good G?" Sam asked as they sat in the car and Callen just kept staring out of the window but Callen didn't respond. "G." Callen shook out of it and turned his head to Sam. "You good G? Your mind seemed to be somewhere else."

"Huh yeah, just thinking about something."

"Care to share?"

Callen took a deep sigh. "I saw Joelle earlier today when I was doing groceries. We talked a little bit. When I had put my groceries in the car I heard this car screeching over the parking lot. I looked up and saw that Joelle was in the path of the car. So I ran up to her and pushed her out of the way."

"She okay?"

"Yeah she's fine, not a scratch."

"That's good."

"Yeah, when I wanted to go she called me back and told me she felt like she should thank me with something."

"She did? Like with what?"

"I don't know but I told her it wasn't necessary. I didn't think it would be good to get back in with her."

"You're still not over her," Sam stated, clearly reading his partner.

"I thought I was but then I saw her again today. But it doesn't matter anyway, it's over, done."

Callen looked out of the window again. Sam knew his partner didn't want to talk about this so he let it drop.

They enjoyed a nice basketball game and Sam dropped Callen off at his place before going home himself. Callen grabbed himself a beer and sat down on the couch. It had been good to see Joelle again today, Callen really missed her. He had hoped Joelle had changed her mind and did want to be with him but she hadn't so Callen had given up on the possible of ever being with her again. But today Callen saw something in her eyes, she really did still love him. But Callen knew she did, that wasn't the problem, it was his job. Callen had tried to help her get over her worries but it wasn't working. So if they would try again, what's to say Joelle wouldn't feel the same again? No, it was better this way, Callen missed her, but it was better this way.

…

That Monday Callen was up early. He went for run before going to work. When he arrived at work no one was in the bullpen just yet. Callen dropped his bag by his desk and went down to the armory. The events of yesterday were still in his mind. It had been good to see Joelle again but she was on the front of his mind again now, after he was finally starting to let her go. Callen hung up a paper target and put some dummy bullets in his gun. He tried to push Joelle out of his thoughts and focus on the shooting. He had to get her out of his mind if he was going to concentrate on his work. If he was distracted he couldn't go out into the field. Callen took a deep breath and focus on the paper target. Without thinking twice Callen emptied his mag, all center mass shots. Callen did some more target practice before going back up to the bullpen.

"Morning guys," Callen spoke, the others had arrived now too.

"Morning," came the replies from the other agents.

Callen sat behind his desk but it was only for a short while since Eric whistled them up.

"What do we have Eric?" Callen asked as the team walked in OPS.

"This morning a truck carrying a shipment of GC Electronics was high-jacked. GC Electronics makes all kind of stuff for the defense, military, navy, that sort of things," Eric explained.

"What was in the truck?" Callen asked.

"All kinds of stuff, some new technology for the drones, some new programs to track people. Everything that was in that truck could be dangerous in the wrong hands."

"We know anything about who high-jacked it?"

"We're still looking," Nell informed them. "They did leave quite a mess behind though."

Nell pressed some keys on her tablet and some footage appeared on the big screen. The agents watched the intersection where the truck was high-jacked. They saw the truck come into the frame and two cars blocked them from the front and the back causing other cars to crash. Men with masks and guns came out of the cars and started shooting at the truck. They tossed the two guards out and got in the truck before driving off.

"How are the guards?" Kensi wondered.

"They are in the hospital right now in surgery. One was not so badly wounded but the other one was."

"Alright, Kensi, Deeks you go the hospital, see what the guards can tell us."

"Will do," Kensi replied and she and Deeks left.

"Nell, Eric, find that truck and see if you can find out who these men are. We'll head to the crime scene and then GC Electronics."

Callen and Sam left. They first went to the crime scene. They put their gloves on and took a look around. There were some spend shell casings but other than that the men didn't leave much behind. Callen took a few pictures and got a picture of a shell casing with a print on it. He sent the pictures to Nell and Eric. They left and went to GC Electronics.

"Agents Callen and Hanna, NCIS, here to speak to your boss," Callen told the receptionist as he and Sam showed their badges.

"Just one moment," the friendly woman replied. The woman called her boss on the phone. "He will see you in his office. It's down here to the right."

"Thank you."

Callen and Sam walked to the office.

"Agents Callen and Hanna, NCIS," Callen spoke again and they showed their badges.

"Come on in gentlemen. I assume you're here about this morning's high-jacking."

"Yes we are. Anything you can tell us about that?"

"It was just a normal route as ever. They loaded the shipment and they would drive it to Pendleton so it could be shipped to the right offices. We followed protocol, everything was fine. We didn't receive any intel about a threat to it or anything."

"What about the guards?" Sam asked.

"They have been handling the shipments for us for years. We've never had any problems with them. I would be really shocked if they would have anything to do with this."

"Who knows about the route and the items on board?"

"About ten people I think."

"We're gonna need those names," Callen spoke.

"Of course. Anything we can do to help."

"Anyone stand out who wants to have this?"

"That's a really long list, everyone would want to have it I assume. There is a tracking device on the shipment, we checked it but they've disabled it."

"Is there any way to turn it back on?"

"No we tried."

"Alright, thank you for your help sir, if you think of anything please call us."

"Will do."

Callen and Sam left the office and went back to the office. Kensi and Deeks were still at the hospital. Callen went upstairs to see what the wonder twins had come up with.

"Oh hi Callen," Nell spoke as Callen walked in. "We're still tracking them. Kaleidoscope found the truck in the parking lot in Marina Del Rey. We just found it and we looked at the cameras there and saw that they ditched the truck there and they got in a car and drove off. We're tracking the car now."

"They ditched the truck, without taking the shipment out of it?"

"Yes it doesn't show on the footage."

"That just makes no sense. See if you can find out where the truck came from, maybe they loaded the shipment off somewhere else. Sam and I will go check out the truck."

"Will do Callen."

Callen went back downstairs. "Gotta go Sam, Nell and Eric found the truck but they ditched it."

Sam grabbed his car keys and together with Callen he drove to the parking lot. Sam parked the car in front of the truck. No one was in the seats up front. Callen and Sam got their guns out and made their way over to the truck. They scanned the truck before going around back. Callen kept his gun on the doors as Sam went to open them. The truck was completely clear, nothing or no one in it.

"Eric, Nell," Callen spoke through the com. "We got the truck but it's completely empty. They have loaded the shipment over into another vehicle, found out which."

"Will do," came the response from Eric.

Sam and Callen looked through the truck to see if maybe the men had left something behind.

"May have got something here," Callen spoke as he was looking through the cabin. He took a picture of it with his cell phone before picking it up. "It looks like a sim card or something. I'll take that back for Eric and Nell."

There wasn't much else to find in the truck so Callen and Sam went back to the office. When they arrived back Kensi and Deeks were in the bullpen. Callen quickly went upstairs to give the card to Eric and Nell. Nell went downstairs with Callen and went to the gadget room. Callen went to the bullpen and sat behind his desk.

"How did it go in the hospital?"

"One of them didn't make it unfortunately. The other one did, we were able to question him. He said that everything was just normal with the route and the shipment. They followed the same protocol as always, nothing out of the ordinary. The only thing different was that they had to take another route as they normally do since there was some construction going on."

"It would be convenient to the high-jackers that they had to take another route," Sam spoke.

"Yeah, we had Eric and Nell check it out. The construction is legit and has been planned for months. So it seems like that's just a coincidence but Eric and Nell are checking the company that does the construction to see if anything stands out."

For now there wasn't much more to do than wait so the agents got caught up on some paperwork.

An hour later Nell came into the bullpen.

"I managed to get something off of the card. It's a sim card. It must have fallen out when they ditched their phones or something. There's not much on it. But there was a number on it that was called four times in the last day. Now it's a burn phone so I can't tell you who it belongs to but I was able to pinpoint the location the calls originated from."

Nell pressed some keys on her tablet and a map of Los Angeles popped up with a red dot.

"That's the GC Electronics office," Kensi remarked.

"That's correct."

"So the call came from inside the GC Electronics office? Do you know where?" Callen asked.

"No, all I can say is it came from that building. Nothing more.

"Is it still active?"

"Yes it is and it's still in that building."

"Alright good work, let's go guys."

They all left and went to the office.

"Step away from the computer," Callen spoke to the receptionist.

"What's going on?"

"Just step away from the computer."

Sam walked up to the fire alarm and pulled the lever.

"Gather them all together. Nobody leaves," Sam spoke.

"Any other exits in the building?" Callen asked the receptionist.

"One at the back of the building."

Callen and Sam went to that exit to make sure no one would get out of Kensi and Deeks stayed at the front.

"Why can't we go out here?" A man asked Callen and Sam.

"This exit is no good, please exit through the front," Sam responded.

Kensi and Deeks were at the front trying to keep everyone in.

"The fire alarm went off, we have to go outside!"

"I'm with NCIS, it's alright. Just stay calm. There's no hazard here." The reception area was pretty roomy. "Alright every stay calm and have a seat on the ground."

"What's the meaning of this?" One of the executives asked.

"We're with NCIS, we're trying to solve the case about the stolen shipment."

"What does that have to do with us and why are you keeping us here?"

"I can't discuss an ongoing case with you now sit down."

A little later Callen and Sam came to the front as well.

"That's everyone," Callen spoke.

"What is the meaning of this agent Callen?" The boss asked as he stood up.

"We received some new intel we have to check out now have a seat. This will be over faster if you co-operate."

"What new intel?"

"I can't discuss that with you sir. Now have a seat."

Callen pulled up his phone and called the number Nell had given him. No sound was coming from the reception area. Callen and Sam went to search the rest of the building as Kensi and Deeks stayed with the employees. Callen heard a cell phone ringing somewhere. He followed the sound and found the phone in a drawer in one of the executives offices'. It was indeed the phone they were looking for. Callen took a picture of it with his phone. He put it in an evidence bag after putting a glove on.

"This is what we were looking for. Mr. Holland, care to explain what this was doing in your office?"

The CEO saw it was a burner phone and looked at his employee. "Alex, what's going on?"

"I'm sorry Pete."

"Alex, what's going on? What did you do?"

"I'm sorry."

Alex pulled out a gun and took Pete in a chokehold. The agents grabbed their SIGS and aimed them at Alex.

"Alex, don't be stupid, let him go," Sam tried to reason with him.

"You don't understand. I had no choice."

"That may be but hurting him isn't going to help. Just let him go and we'll talk this through."

"I can't, I'm sorry."

Suddenly a shot rang out.


	4. Chapter 4

Callen saw that Alex moved his gun towards them. Before he could get a shot off Callen took a shot, hitting Alex in the leg. Alex released his hold on Pete but the gun went back up to the agents. Sam shot him in the chest before he could get a shot off causing Alex to fell backwards on the ground. Callen walked over to Pete as Sam walked over to Alex.

"You okay sir?" Callen asked.

"Yeah I'm good."

Sam checked Alex. "He's dead G."

"Did he really do what I think he did?"

"It seems that way yeah."

"Why? He was a really good employee."

"Probably money."

They cleaned up at the scene before going back to the office. They finished their paperwork before going back home.

….

That weekend Callen went to do some housework. He cleaned up some stuff and came across some of Joelle's stuff. He should probably return those to her but that would mean he would have to see her again. But it were her stuff so he should return them. Callen grabbed a box and put Joelle stuff in there. Callen finished up cleaning and did some laundry.

In the evening after he had dinner he took the box to Joelle's place. He grabbed the box out of the car and walked up to the front door. He knocked on the front door and waited for Joelle to open the door. Joelle was surprised to see him when she opened the door.

"Hey Joelle."

"Hey Callen, what are you doing here?"

"Oh I was cleaning and I found some of your stuff, figured I'd return them to you."

"Thank you."

Callen looked into the house and saw a man sitting on the dinner table. It appeared he and Joelle were having dinner.

"Oh I'm sorry, it seems like I'm interrupting something."

"It's fine G. Don't worry about it."

"Well enjoy the rest of the evening."

"Thanks, you too and thank you for dropping my stuff off."

"It's my pleasure."

Callen walked back to his car and Joelle closed the door. Callen got in the car and drove home. Was Joelle dating another man? Okay they were separated so she had a right to date another man but Callen still had hoped that he and Joelle could get back together but that was probably off the table for good now. Maybe he should just move on as well. He wanted Joelle to be happy, he should just forget about her. But perhaps it wasn't a date, maybe it was just a friend she was having dinner with. What was he thinking? Joelle broke up with him because she couldn't handle his job, she wouldn't just turn that around and come back to him. No, Callen would be better off just to forget her, it wasn't going to happen. Maybe this relationship life just wasn't meant for him, maybe he was destined to stay alone forever. Maybe it was better that way, no woman in his life meant his enemies couldn't use her to get to him.

…

Today was Valentine's day. When Callen woke up he realized he had nothing to do today. It was on a Sunday this year so he didn't have to go to work. That would at least have kept his mind off of things. Last year Callen had spent Valentine's day with Joelle. It was after the Christmas she found out about his real job. Callen had enjoyed that day. He had made a special dinner for him and Joelle. As Callen lay in his bed he thought back to that day.

..

 _Valentine's day was on a Saturday this year which gave Callen plenty of time to get everything in order for tonight. Joelle was coming over to his place tonight and Callen would cook dinner for them. Joelle had been teaching him a lot and Callen could actually cook now. He was going to make a nice dinner for the two of them. In the afternoon Callen went to the store to get everything he needed for dinner. He had already picked up a present for Joelle earlier this week. Callen was actually looking forward to tonight. He never cared much for Valentine's day but he did this year. Joelle knew about him, about who he really was. He could totally see this turning into something really great. Maybe Joelle was the one for him._

 _Once Callen was home from the groceries he got started on the preparations for dinner, the stuff he could do already. Joelle was coming over around 6pm. Just after 5pm Callen went to get showered and dressed. He set the table and put some candles around the house. He really liked how his house had turned out with all the furniture and decorations. It really was more homey now. Just before 6pm the doorbell rang. Callen took his apron off and went to open it._

" _Hey Jo," Callen greeted her._

" _Hey G."_

 _Joelle gave Callen a kiss and stepped into the house._

" _Let me take your coat," Callen offered._

" _Thank you."_

 _Callen helped Joelle take her coat off and he hung it up in the closet. Joelle looked around the house, it looked cozy and romantic. Several candles were lit around the room and there was soft music playing in the background._

" _Hmm, it smells delicious here," Joelle admitted. "I hope that's dinner."_

" _Yes it is. It's almost done. Can I get you anything to drink?"_

" _Some red wine please."_

" _Coming up."_

 _Callen went to the kitchen and returned with two glasses of red wine. He put them on the coffee table and joined Joelle on the couch._

" _Thank you for making dinner for us Callen."_

" _It's my pleasure. I hope it tastes good."_

" _With all the cooking lessons I've been giving you I'm sure it does."_

" _You really are a good teacher."_

" _You're a fast student and it wasn't that hard to teach you since you didn't know anything about cooking," Joelle replied with a smile._

" _Yes that's true. With my job I just never really found the time for it, I thought it was just easier to order something in or get a quick meal from the microwave."_

" _Well this is more healthy."_

" _That it is. Sam's been teasing me about that."_

" _You two seem really close together."_

" _Yeah, he's not just my partner, he's like a brother to me. I never really had anyone in my life that cared for me, Sam was the first."_

" _It's nice that you have him now and the rest of the team. You have a family now."_

" _Yeah I do. Who knows, maybe one day I will find my real family."_

" _I really hope you do."_

 _They were interrupted by a beep coming out of the kitchen._

" _Dinner's ready."_

 _Callen gave Joelle a quick kiss before he went to the kitchen. Joelle went to the dinner table. Callen grabbed the oven dish out of the oven and brought it over to the table. He had made lasagna from scratch._

" _Hmm, it smells delicious G."_

 _Callen grabbed the bottle of wine and sat at the table. He put some food on Joelle's and his plate. It was actually really delicious. Callen was proud of himself for making this. It was a bit hard but he managed and it was really good. As dessert Callen had made tiramisu._

" _Hmm G, this was really good."_

" _What can I say, I had a great teacher," Callen responded with a smirk._

 _They cleaned up after dinner and sat on the couch._

" _I bought you a little gift," Joelle spoke and pulled a present out of her purse. "Happy Valentine's day G."_

" _Thank you Joelle."_

 _Callen took the present and opened it. It revealed a box with several matryoshka dolls in it._

" _You told me you're part Russian so I thought this would be a nice gift."_

" _Thank you Jo."_

 _Joelle caught staring at the box. "Is it not okay?"_

" _Huh? Oh no it's fine. It's great. I was just remembering. When I stayed in this house with Rostoff's they had these matryoshka dolls too. These really look a lot like them."_

" _That's nice."_

 _Callen took them out of the box and placed them from tall to small on the mantle._

" _Thank you Jo, these are really nice."_

" _You're welcome G."_

" _I got you something too. Happy Valentine's day Jo."_

" _Thank you G."_

 _Joelle took the present from Callen and opened it. It was a necklace. It was round and it had two layers. The top layer was a little smaller than the bottom one. There was a ruler and an apple on the necklace as well, all in silver. On the bottom layer stood in a downward arch, underneath the top layer, teach . inspire . care. On the top layer stood Ms. Taylor in the same downward arch. There was a card attached._

" _To the best teacher and amazing woman ever," Joelle read. "Aww thank you G. This is really beautiful."_

 _There were also earrings in the box. It were two apple shaped earrings with the text special teacher on it and a red diamond about it._

" _Thank you G. This is beautiful."_

" _You're welcome."_

 _Callen put the TV on and they enjoyed a nice evening on the couch. Joelle was spending the night at Callen's place. Once the movie had ended Joelle got up from the couch._

" _You just wait right here. I've got a surprise for you in the bedroom," Joelle told him with a smirk._

" _Oh really?" Callen asked with the same smirk._

" _Yeah, I'm sure you're gonna love it. You just wait here. I'm gonna call you when I'm ready."_

" _Deal, just hurry up."_

" _Oh impatient are we?"_

 _Seductively Joelle backed up to the hallway and went into the bedroom. She closed and locked the door so Callen couldn't come in. Callen cleaned up in the living room, blew the candles out and locked up. He waited for Joelle to call him._

" _G, I'm ready," Joelle called after a while._

 _Callen turned the lights down. Callen walked to the bedroom. When he opened the door he stood dead in his tracks. Joelle was lying on the bed wearing a red sexy see-through night gown._

" _You like it?" Joelle asked._

" _Wow, you look great."_

 _Callen had never seen this side of Joelle but he liked it. She looked really hot wearing that._

" _Maybe you should get over here then so you can get a closer look."_

 _Callen kicked his shoes off and joined Joelle on the bed. Joelle pushed him down on the bed and straddled him. Joelle bend down and kissed him. Callen wrapped his arms around her and wanted to turn them around but Joelle stopped him._

" _Let me this time."_

 _Joelle shifted backwards on him so she was sitting just below his hips. She moved her hands underneath Callen's shirt and pushed it upwards before pulling it over his head and tossing it on the floor. Joelle let her hands wander over his chest as she applied a bit more pleasure with her hips. Joelle kissed him again before making her way down. She placed kisses on his body before she reached his pants. Slowly, very slowly, she undid the belt, button and zipper of his pants. She could feel that Callen was getting impatient. Once it was free Joelle moved Callen's pants down, leaving just his boxers on. Joelle could see how turned on he already was, she liked having this effect on him. She straddled his hips again and took her night gown off. It joined his clothes on the floor. Underneath the gown she was wearing sexy red lingerie. Joelle pressed down and moved her hips, teasing Callen._

" _Jo please," Callen begged._

 _He never begged much during sex, mostly it was Joelle who was doing the begging but he couldn't take her teasing anymore. He wanted to make love to her. Joelle stopped her movements and got off of Callen's lap. Callen whimpered at the loss of contact but that was soon forgotten as Joelle took his boxers off and started pleasuring him._

" _Oh god," Callen called out._

 _Once he had finished Joelle crawled back up his body and kissed him._

" _You liked that?"_

" _Oh yes very much."_

 _Callen kissed Joelle again and turned them around. Now it was his time to pleasure her. Callen took her bra and panties off, they joined the rest of their clothing on the floor. Joelle yelped with pleasure when she felt Callen where she needed to. When she had finished Callen crawled back up her body. He kissed her as he pushed inside of her. It felt so good to make love to her._

 _Three hours later they lay heavily breathing on the bed next to each other._

" _Wow," Callen uttered._

" _Yeah wow, that was really good."_

" _Yeah it was, I really liked that thing you wore."_

" _If you're a good boy I'd might wear it again."_

" _I'd like that."_

 _Callen pulled Joelle to him and gave her one more kiss before he took her into his arms. I didn't take them long to fell asleep._

...

Callen got out of the bed and went to get a shower. Even though it was Valentine's day today it was just like any other day to Callen this year. He had nothing special to do today. After getting some breakfast Callen went to the store to get some groceries. Callen just lounged around the house for the rest of the day. In the evening he went for a run and took a shower. He sat down on the couch, sipped on his beer and watched a bit of TV before going to bed.

The next morning Callen was at work bright and early. He went to the gym to get a workout. He changed into his workout clothes. He put some gloves on and went to the punching machine.

"What are you mad about?" Sam spoke as he walked into the gym a few minutes later.

"Nothing," Callen answered without stopping his punches.

"Okay, so you're just beating the hell out of the machine for no reason."

"Just working on my punches."

"Ah okay. So it has nothing to do with yesterday?"

"Sam….." Callen warned him.

"It's okay G, I get it. I'm just saying I get it."

"Great, so stop bothering me about it."

Sam realized Callen really didn't want to talk about it so he dropped it.

"You're needed up in OPS," Eric called a little later when he walked into the gym.

Callen went to get a shower before joining the others upstairs.

"What have you got Eric?" Callen asked.

"This happened this morning in downtown LA," Eric spoke as he put footage on the screen.

The agents watched the footage. They watched a chase on foot just in front of the mall. The man that was chased ran into traffic and got hit by a car. The men who were chasing him stopped and disappeared into the crowd.

"Who's the guy that got hit?" Sam asked.

"He is petty officer David James," Nell informed them. "He just got home yesterday in between two tours. He unfortunately didn't make it."

"Any ID on the guys who were chasing him?" Callen wondered.

"Not yet, facial reg is running."

"Look into James' life, see if something happened that could lead to this. You find out who's his commanding officer?"

"Yes. He's currently home too in between tours."

"Any next of kin for James?" Kensi asked.

"Yeah he's got a wife and two kids here. Both addresses are on your phone," Eric spoke.

"Alright, Kensi, Deeks, you go see the wife. Sam and I will talk to his commanding officer."

With everyone knowing what to do the agents left and Nell and Eric sat behind their computers. Sam drove them to Mike Connor's, James' commanding officer, house. Callen knocked on the door and they waited for the door to open. A little later a man opened the door.

"Commander Mike Connor?" Callen asked.

"Yeah, who are you?"

"Special agents Callen and Hanna," Callen answered as he and Sam showed their badges. "We're here to talk to you about petty officer David James."

"What about him?"

"I'm sorry to say sir, but he was killed this morning," Sam told him.

"Come on in." Callen and Sam walked in and sat down on the couch. "What happened?"

"We have footage of him being chased in downtown LA. He ran into traffic and got hit, he passed on the way to the hospital," Callen informed him.

"Do you know anybody who would wanna hurt James?" Sam asked.

"No, we just got home from our tour. We're home for three weeks and then we're going back. As far as I know David didn't have any issues. Everyone on our team liked him. He was a nice guy."

"What about your mission? Maybe that followed you home," Callen said.

"I'd doubt it. We weren't involved in combat. We were helping to rebuild villages, give the people a somewhat normal life back. We never had to use our weapons while we were over there. We were far away from the warzone."

"Did David mention anything to you about being in trouble or something?"

"No nothing. He was excited to go home. His wife had given birth to a baby girl while we were stationed over there about two months ago. He was excited to meet her. I would make no sense for him to get into trouble. He was so excited about going home."

"Do you maybe recognize these men?" Callen asked and showed Connor the pictures of the men who were chasing James.

"No, were these the men who were chasing James?"

"Yes they were."

"Thank you for your time, if you think of anything please give us a call," Sam told him.

"I will. I hope you find who did this. David was a good man and a good soldier, one of the best I worked with."

"We will find out what happened."

Callen and Sam went back to the office. Just as they walked back in Kensi and Deeks came in too.

"Anything from the wife?" Callen asked.

"No, she had no reason to suspect that David would be in trouble. He was so happy to be home and see his little girl for the first time. She said he was going to the mall to get some groceries. We showed her pictures of them men who were chasing him but she didn't recognize them," Kensi told them. "How did you guys do?"

"Not much either. He didn't know about David being in any kind of trouble. And he didn't recognize the men either."

"This just doesn't make any sense. Who would go after a man who just came home to meet his newborn girl. He wasn't even in combat over there," Sam thought out loud.

"Maybe he went on a tour to get away from something and the men found out that he was back," Deeks threw a theory out there.

"But why wait so long then. They could have gone after his family while he was away. He was only home for a short while now, what could he have gotten himself into?" Callen said.

"Maybe we can help with that," Eric spoke as he and Nell came down the stairs.

"We dug into James' life," Nell started. "Since he was home he made several calls to this number. Now it's a burn phone so no luck there. But this morning he sent a text to this number saying he would meet them at the mall."

"Okay, if he was there to meet them why did he run?" Kensi questioned.

"Maybe something went sideways and he decided to run."

"What could a new father and a soldier be into that would cause him to run?" Sam wondered.

Nell's tablet beeped. "We got facial reg back on one of the guys." Nell put the ID on the screen. "His name is Javier Sanchez. He has a prior arrest for dealing in drugs."

"James was buying drugs off of him?" Deeks asked.

Nell pressed some keys on her tablet before putting a picture on the screen. "James withdrew five thousand dollars from this bank account earlier today."

"Maybe it was to pay them," Callen said. "Can you find footage of James in the mall park from earlier."

Eric typed some keys on his tablet. "Alright here he is." Eric put the footage on the screen.

They saw James waiting on a bench and a little later the men came up to them.

"Can you zoom in a little closer?" Callen asked and Eric zoomed in a little closer. "Kens, can you read what he's saying.

They only saw James' face on camera, the other men had their back to the camera.

"He's saying that this is some of the money and they get the rest later. He said to stay away from his family."

Then nothing and James ran. Eric's tablet beeped. "We got a location on Sanchez."

"Send it to our phones."

The four agents left and went to the address. SIGs at the ready they walked up to the warehouse. Callen looked in through the window but couldn't really see anything. Sam carefully opened the door and the four agents entered.

Suddenly a few men came out and started shooting at them and an agent got hit.


	5. Chapter 5

The four agents entered the building, carefully. SIGs drawn they searched through the building. Suddenly a few men came out of nowhere and started shooting at them. The agents ducked behind the first thing they could find.

"Federal agents!" Sam yelled. "Throw down your weapons!"

The agents fired back whenever they could. After about ten minutes the shooting stopped. The bad guys had been either killed or wounded. The agents walked up to the men and cleared the weapons.

"Eric, we need some ambulances. Some of the men got hurt," Deeks spoke.

"Copy that Deeks."

Sam noticed that Callen wasn't around. He had seen Callen duck behind a crate but now he didn't see him anymore.

"G," Sam called. "G, you good?"

Kensi and Deeks went to check the men as Sam went to find his partner. He had seen Callen duck behind a crate so he walked there.

"G!" Sam called again but still no answer.

Sam walked around the crate and found his partner on the floor and he noticed his partner was bleeding.

"Eric, we need an ambulance, G's been hit."

"On its way."

"Come on G, don't do this to me."

Sam checked his partner to see where he was bleeding. Sam noticed he had been hit in the chest. Sam used his hands to keep pressure on the wound.

"Come on G, stay with me."

Kensi and Deeks had heard it over the coms. After they had secured the men Kensi and Deeks went over to Sam.

"Is he okay?" Kensi asked.

"I don't know. He's unconscious."

In no time the ambulances were there. Two paramedics came up to Sam and Callen. Sam stepped out of the way so the paramedics could do their job. Other paramedics were busy dealing with the men the agents had shot. Sam really hoped his partner would be okay. Once all the men had been taken away the agents went to search through the building, but their minds were all on Callen. They all hoped their team leader would be okay.

Callen was quickly brought to the hospital and into surgery. Hetty had gone to the hospital to see how her agent was doing. When Sam arrived at the hospital Hetty was waiting in the waiting room.

"How's he doing Hetty?" Sam asked, desperate to get an update on his partner.

"He's still in surgery. Doctor said it's touch and go. But they are doing everything they can. Where are Ms. Blye and Mr. Deeks?"

"They are in the boatshed questioning the men who didn't need that much medical attention."

"Okay. Don't worry about your partner Mr. Hanna. Mr. Callen is strong, he will pull through."

"I don't know what happened. We entered the building, we were careful and we looked around. Out of nowhere they came out and shot at us. We dove behind the quickest thing we could find. In the commotion G must have been hit."

It was about two hours later when the doctor approached Hetty and Sam.

"How is he?" Sam asked, desperate to know how his partner was doing.

"There was some internal damage but we managed to repair it. With some rest he should be fine." Both Sam and Hetty were relieved to hear it. "He's being situated in his room right now. He's still unconscious right now from the surgery but he should wake up soon. Once he's settled into his room I will ask the nurse to come get you."

"Thank you doctor."

The doctor walked away and Sam and Hetty sat in the waiting room waiting for the nurse to come get them.

It was about ten minutes later when the nurse walked up to them. Sam and Hetty followed her to Callen's room. Hetty and Sam stepped in and looked at the senior agent lying on the bed. He had some wires attached to his body and they heard the beeping of the heart monitor. Sam walked up to the bed and placed his hand on Callen's arm.

"You're gonna be okay G."

"Yes he will Mr. Hanna. I've gotta go back to the office. Please keep me updated to Mr. Callen's condition."

"I will Hetty. Keep me updated on the case. Let me know if I need to come back to the office."

"I will Mr. Hanna."

Hetty left and Sam sat on the chair next to Callen's bed. He hoped his partner would be okay. He knew how Callen felt about hospitals and being sidelined so it should be fun once he woke up.

It was about an hour later when Sam's phone rang. Sam looked at the display and saw it was Kensi.

"Hey Kens," Sam answered the phone.

"Hey Sam, how's Callen?"

"He should be fine. There was some damage but the doctor repaired it. He's still out cold but he should wake up soon. How's the case going?"

"It's all wrapped up. We questioned those men. They were using James. They were having him sell drugs for them. They threatened his family, if he didn't dealt drugs for them his family would get hurt. But James wanted out, he didn't want anything to do with them anymore. They pulled a gun on him and James ran."

"How did James get involved with them?"

"Probably overseas. Nell and Eric checked and these men have ties with some men in the area where James was stationed. They could have gotten to him there. They sent everything we had to the Navy so they can check it out overseas, maybe there's a mole or something."

"Alright, thanks Kens."

"Keep us updated on Callen's condition."

"I will."

Sam hung up the phone and now it was just waiting until his partner would wake up.

It was about two hours later when Sam noticed his partner waking up. Sam saw Callen's hand moving and then his eyelids started to flutter.

"It's okay G, I'm here. Everything is fine," Sam spoke to his partner. Slowly Callen's blue eyes appeared. "Hey, welcome back partner."

Callen looked around and noticed he was in the hospital.

"What happened?" Callen asked with a soft voice.

"You were shot but don't worry, you're gonna be okay. Doctor fixed you up. With some rest you should be fine."

"How much rest?" Callen asked, his voice a little better now.

"I don't know G, a few weeks I guess."

"Great." Sam could hear the sarcasm in his partner's voice. "Did we at least get them?"

"Yeah don't worry. The case is all wrapped up." Sam filled his partner in on what had happened with the case. "Just rest up G. I'll go get your doctor."

Sam stepped out of the room to get Callen's doctor. Callen looked up to the ceiling. He couldn't believe that he was in the hospital once again. He hated hospitals. He couldn't wait to get out of here but that probably wasn't a good idea right now. He didn't like to admit it but he felt tired and weak, probably because he was shot and had surgery. Callen hoped he would be back on his feet soon and back at work again.

A little later Sam stepped back into the room with the doctor.

"Good to see you're awake Mr. Callen. How are you feeling?"

"Could be better, but I'm okay."

"You were lucky sir. The bullet missed all vital organs."

"How soon can I get out of here doc? No offense but I don't like hospitals."

"You had surgery sir, your body has to heal. I'd say maybe in a few days. But you still have to stay at home for at least two weeks I think."

"Great, just great."

"Sir you have to let your body heal."

"He knows he does," Sam interjected. "Don't worry doc, I'll make sure he takes his rest."

"Alright."

The doctor did some tests on Callen, all seemed good, before leaving the room.

"You scared me there partner."

"Don't worry Sam, you're not getting rid of me this easily," Callen joked.

….

Four days later Callen was released from the hospital but he still had to stay at home for at least two weeks. He had to come back for a checkup and then the doctor would determine if Callen could return to work.

Callen couldn't wait to get out of the hospital. He really hated hospitals, he hated being confined to the bed. There wasn't much to do in a hospital. When Callen walked out of the hospital he saw his partner standing there, leaning against the challenger.

"Morning Sam," Callen spoke as he walked up to his partner.

"Morning G. Come on, get in, breakfast is on me."

"Thanks Sam. I could do with some normal food."

Callen got in the car and Sam drove them to Patrick's roadhouse.

"How are you feeling G?"

"I'm good."

"Just take it easy okay. I know how you get, I don't like to see you back in the hospital anytime soon."

"Don't worry Sam, I'll take it easy. Just wished I could be at work again. I hate sitting around at home."

"I know you do but you have to let your body heal."

"I know Sam, I just don't like it."

After breakfast Sam dropped Callen off at his house. They had already brought Callen's car back home and his bag was inside.

"Thanks Sam."

"No problem G, just take it easy and you can always call me."

"I know and I'll try."

Callen got out and walked up to the front door. Sam looked at his partner. He was glad that Callen was out of the hospital but he hoped his partner would take it easy. He knew his partner all too well. Once Callen was inside Sam drove off and went to work. Callen walked into his house. It was good to be back home again. He saw his bag standing next to the couch. He sat down on the couch and looked through his mail. Callen grabbed his laptop and logged onto the NCIS server. He looked through his emails and answers the ones that needed answering. Callen looked into some cases to see if he could do something but Hetty's face popped up on the screen.

"Hello Mr. Callen," Hetty spoke.

"Hello Hetty."

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I thought it could maybe do some paperwork or something."

"You just got out of the hospital Mr. Callen. You need to rest. I'm locking you out of the server for now."

"Hetty please, I need to do something. I can't sit around doing nothing."

"Read a book or something. I mean it Mr. Callen, you have to take your rest."

Hetty ended the call and locked Callen out of the system. If he could log into the system he could at least do something. Well he could go learn his languages now or something, running or anything really physical was out of the question for now. Callen opened up a program an brushed up on his languages.

In the afternoon Callen went to the store to buy some groceries.

…

After a week Callen already had enough of sitting at home. He felt fine and he wanted to go back to work but Hetty was very strict. He couldn't come back yet, not until he had his checkup next week. He hated this, he hated being sidelined. He wasn't good at sitting on his ass the entire day. Sam had come by a few times to check up on him, to make sure he was taking his rest. Callen hoped he could return to work after he had his checkup next week. Maybe for a few days a week perhaps. Even if it was only desk work Callen would be happy about it. It was better than staying at home all day.

This Friday Callen had an appointment with his doctor. He sat in the waiting room for a few minutes until the doctor called him in.

"So, how are you doing Mr. Callen?"

"I feel good. Ready to go back to work again."

"No more pains? Fatigue?"

"No not really."

"Alright, let's just check you over and we'll go from there. You may go in there and take your shirt off."

Callen went into the exam room and took his shirt off. The doctor examined the wound before removing the stitches. He pulled out his stethoscope and listened to Callen's heart and lungs and he also took his blood pressure.

"Everything seems normal here."

"So I can go back to work?"

"You seem fine but Ms. Lange asked me to send you to a physical therapist, to see how your condition is, if you're fit again to return to work."

"Is that really necessary?"

"Ms. Lange's orders, she was very specific."

"Alright then I guess."

Callen realized going against Hetty's orders in this case wasn't the wisest decision.

"Alright, I've already made an appointment for you. It starts in twenty minutes."

"Alright thank you."

Callen left the office and went down the physical therapy wing. He sat in the waiting room until he was called in.

"Good afternoon Mr. Callen, my name is Pete. There are some clothes over there, you can get changed there."

"Thanks."

A little later Callen came out in his workout clothes.

"Alright, let's get started on the treadmill."

Pete attached some wires to Callen before firing up the treadmill. He started the treadmill off slowly and increased its speed with time. After about thirty minutes he stopped.

"Was that okay? Not too much?" Pete asked.

"No it was fine."

Pete wrote down Callen's vitals. He did some more exercises with Callen.

"And? Can I go back to work?" Callen asked once they were done.

"Everything seems find so far. Your vitals are all good. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't go back to work."

"Great, thanks."

"Just take it easy the first couple of days and if you experience any pains or fatigue or something please contact your doctor."

"I will do that."

"Alright, you're all done here."

Callen went to grab a shower before going home. He was glad he could start work again on Monday. He hated sitting at home.

….

"Morning," Callen spoke as he walked into the bullpen that Monday morning, only Sam was there.

"Morning G, you're already cleared for work?"

"Yes I am. Had a checkup this Friday and I was deemed fit enough to return to work."

"That's good, welcome back partner."

"Thanks, it's good to be back. Anything exciting happen here while I was gone?"

"Nah not much, just your average cases."

Callen looked at his inbox. His inbox had gained quite the amount of paperwork while he was gone. Callen grabbed the top folder off of it and got started.

Luckily today was an easy day so Callen could ease back into work. Callen stayed a little longer than the others to catch up on his paperwork.

"Go home Mr. Callen," Hetty spoke, walking into the bullpen. "This will still be here tomorrow. Don't overdue yourself on your first day."

"Just gotta finish this one Hetty, then I'll go home." Callen looked at Hetty. "I promise Hetty."

"Alright, goodnight Mr. Callen."

"Goodnight Hetty."

Callen finished the report he was working on before logging off. He packed up his stuff and went home. Before going home he picked up some pizza.

The next morning Callen was at work early. He went to the shooting range to get some target practice in. He hung up a paper target, put dummy bullets in his gun and put glasses and headphones on. He took his stance and emptied the magazine on the target. After three magazines he left the shooting range and cleaned his gun in the armory.

"Morning G," Sam spoke as he walked into the armory a few minutes later.

"Morning Sam."

"You're here early."

"Yeah just did some target practice and I have tons of paperwork to catch up on so."

"Alright, but you're doing good?"

"Yes Sam," Callen spoke and looked at his partner. "Don't worry Sam, I'm good."

"Alright."

Sam went to the shooting range as well. Once Callen was done cleaning his gun he went back up to the bullpen and got started on his paperwork again.

Today was another quiet day. They did get a case but it was only a small one and they managed to wrap it up in a couple of hours. After Callen was finished with his paperwork he went down to the gym, the others had already gone home. Callen changed into some workout clothes and went to the punching machine. He practiced for about thirty minutes before hitting the showers. Once dressed again Callen grabbed his stuff and went home. He just lounged around his house for the rest of the evening. He was about to go to bed for the night when there was a knock on his door and more knocks. This person seemed desperate. Callen wondered who it was. With his hand ready on his SIG Callen walked up to the door. Carefully Callen opened the door. He was surprised to see Joelle standing there, she looked terrified.

"Joelle? What are you doing here?" Callen wondered.

"Oh thank god you're home Callen," Joelle spoke really terrified.

"What's wrong Joelle?"

"You got to help me."


	6. Chapter 6

Callen saw that something really serious was going on. Joelle seemed terrified. It must be really bad if she came to him. They weren't together anymore but in this state Callen just couldn't send her away.

"Come on in."

"Thank you Callen," Joelle spoke and quickly stepped into the house. 'I'm sorry for coming here but I didn't know where else to go to."

"What's wrong?"

"Well, I don't know what happened," Joelle spoke as she sat down on the couch.

Callen could see that this had really scared her, whatever it was. Even though they weren't together anymore he would do anything he could to help her. Callen sat down next to her on the couch.

"It's okay Jo, just tell me what happened. We'll figure it out together. I'll help you, I promise."

"Do you remember that guy that was at my place the other day when you return my stuff?"

"Yeah I remember him. Did he try to hurt you?"

"We went to the movies and after that we went to his place. He seemed like a sweet guy. Everything went fine. I don't know what happened. We were having a good time. I had to use the bathroom, when I came back he cornered me and he had a gun to my face. I don't know why he did that. After that it's a bit fussy. I think I kicked him to get free. I ran out of there and got in my car. I didn't know what else to do. I thought maybe you could help me, I didn't know where else to turn, I panicked."

"It's okay Jo, I don't mind. It's fine. I will help you."

"Thank you Callen."

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"No he didn't hurt me, I'm just shaken up."

"Alright. Come on, I'll take you somewhere safe you can stay while we figure this out. I'll help you find this guy."

Before they went outside Callen checked the surroundings but he didn't spot anything suspicious. He and Joelle took Callen's car and Callen drove them to the boatshed. Callen got out of the car first and checked the surroundings. It didn't seem like he was followed. He didn't see anyone suspicious. Quickly Callen and Joelle walked up to the boatshed and Callen used the code to get into the boatshed.

"What is this place?" Joelle asked as they walked in.

"It's a safe place. We use it for work. You'll be safe here."

Joelle took a seat on the couch and Callen brought her a cup of coffee.

"Thank you Callen. I'm sorry to just show up on your doorstep like this but I didn't know where else to turn."

"It's fine Jo, it's not a problem. I'll help you find this guy." Callen sat down on one of the chairs. "Can you remember anything about him? Did he maybe say something why pulled a gun at you?"

"It's all a bit fussy, I don't know."

"It's okay. Just think. You went to the movies and then you went to his place. You went to the bathroom and then he pulled a gun on you. Focus on him, did he say anything?"

Joelle closed her eyes and focused just like Callen said. She thought back to the evening and what had happened.

"Oh my god!" Joelle spoke terrified after a little while.

"What? What is it?" Callen asked concerned.

"He's after you."

Callen couldn't believe it! Someone had used Joelle to come after him!

"You sure?"

"Yeah I remember it now. When he pulled the gun on me he said he was after Callen and I would lead him to you. Oh god, I'm sorry Callen. What if I lead him to you?"

"It's okay Jo, I checked while we were driving, no one was following us. You'll be safe here. We'll get to the bottom of this but in the meanwhile you have to stay here. We're gonna get this guy, I promise. Now can you tell me what you know about him, maybe his phone number?"

Joelle told Callen everything she knew about this man. Callen called an agent to watch Joelle while he went to the office after he had called the others in.

"You'll be safe here Joelle. Agent Sanchez will keep an eye on you. I'm only a phone call away."

"Okay, where are you going?"

Joelle didn't like it that Callen went away, she felt safer with him than with this other agent. Sure he was probably a good agent and he could protect her but she preferred to have Callen here to protect her, she knew him.

"I have to go to the office so we can figure this out. Don't worry Jo, it's gonna be okay. Agent Sanchez is a very good agent and he will keep you safe. And if there's a problem he will call me. You'll be safe here. Okay."

"Okay."

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

Callen left and went to the office.

"What's going on G?" Sam asked as he walked into OPS.

"Joelle came to see me, she was terrified. Someone was after her, but now it turned out they used her to get to me."

"You sure?"

"Yeah she remembered him saying that she would lead him to me just before she ran. She didn't know where else to go so she came to me."

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, a little shaken up but she's safe in the boatshed now."

"Who is this guy?"

"I don't know. The name didn't ring a bell. I asked Joelle what she knew about him, Eric and Nell are already looking for him."

"Why would he used Joelle to get to you? He must have known you two were dating."

"Yeah. I can't believe someone used Joelle to get to me. I don't know who it could be. I always check and in all that time I was with Joelle I didn't see anyone suspicious following me."

"Well at least Joelle is safe, we'll figure out who this guy is and we'll make him pay for going after Joelle."

Kensi and Deeks had arrived in OPS as well.

"What's going on?" Kensi asked.

Callen filled them in on what had happened.

"Alright what we know so far is that the man that came after Joelle is called Frank Andrews, he lives in Culver City. According to his file he works at LA Securities. We did some further digging into this company. This company is actually on the ATF's and FBI's radar for trafficking weapons, but so far they haven't made anything stick," Nell informed them.

"Okay, but that still doesn't explain why he would be after me. We have no connection with that case," Callen reasoned.

"They have reason to believe that there might be military grade weapons involved in their trafficking too but since they haven't been able to confirm that the case hasn't come to us yet. They did tip NCIS about this but nothing has been confirmed yet."

"That still doesn't answer how he would know about me or this office, or that I dated Joelle."

"We're still looking, this is all we have so far."

"If he knows about our office it's safe to say the others at the company know about us too. If it's really a front, we can't risk an undercover operation, they might recognize us. Let us know the minute you know more."

The agents left OPS and went down to the bullpen. For now they couldn't do much more then wait.

"Do you recognize that guy?" Kensi asked.

"No, I only saw him once when I went to return some of Jo's stuff. He doesn't look familiar. I don't know where she met him."

"But she's okay?"

"Yeah he didn't hurt her, she's just a bit shaken up."

"Yeah I can imagine."

Given that it was now around midnight they hoped it wouldn't be too long until they would close this case. Callen stepped out of the bullpen and called Joelle.

"Hey Callen," Joelle answered the phone. "Have you been able to find anything?"

"We're still looking but don't worry we're gonna find him. Don't worry, you're safe there. There's a bed in the room upstairs if you want to get some rest. It might be a while until we've finished the case. You're safe there Joelle. Agent Sanchez is there to keep an eye on you. You're good to get some sleep. Don't worry."

"Alright, I guess."

"I will come to the boatshed once this case if finished."

"Okay. Thank you for this Callen."

"No problem, I'm sorry you got mixed up in this. I will make it right. Try to get some sleep."

Callen hung up the phone and went back to the bullpen. It was about two hours later when the wonder twins came down the stairs.

"I think we figured out how he found out about you and about you and Joelle," Eric spoke as he and Nell walked into the bullpen.

"We looked into all the intel the AFT and FBI have gathered on this company and what they had send to NCIS. Within this we found a connection to our office. A few weeks ago we worked a case with military grade weapons. We found them and closed the case but according to the intel it's to be believed that these weapons have something to do with LA Securities. We looked more thoroughly and determined that these people were employed by LA Securities as well but under a different name. That's probably how they found out about that we were the team to get bad guys," Nell informed them.

"Okay but that still doesn't explain how he found out about Joelle," Callen spoke.

"Yes I was just getting to that. We checked into all of them to see if you had any dealings with any of them. There's a Laura Andrews in one of Joelle's co-workers class. She's the daughter of Frank Andrews. He must have seen you when you dropped Joelle off at her work. How exactly he found out you and Joelle broke up I'm not sure but this is most likely how he got close to her."

Callen was pissed that he had used Joelle to get to him. Joelle didn't deserve this.

"Have you been able to locate him?"

"We tracked him from Joelle's house. He tried to follow her but he lost her. Kaleidoscope is searching for him," Eric spoke and his tablet beeped. "Kaleidoscope just got a hit. He's on Admiralty Way heading south."

"He's heading to the boatshed," Callen spoke as he put two and two together.

The four agents quickly left and got in their cars. Luckily the boatshed was close to the office. Nell had alerted the agent in the boatshed. Luckily Joelle was upstairs sleeping. Sam drove as fast as he could to the boatshed. When they arrived the door to the boatshed was open. Weapons drawn the four agents went in. Callen saw agent Sanchez lying on the floor in the hallway. With caution the four agents went in. Just as they stepped into the main room Andrews came down the stairs with Joelle. He had her in a chokehold and pointed a gun at her.

"Let her go!" Callen warned him as the agents pointed their weapons at him.

"Well well agent Callen, how nice of you to show up."

"Let her go! I'm not good ask again!"

Callen saw how terrified Joelle was. He was so pissed at Andrews for getting her mixed up in this. Callen looked to see if he could get a shot off. There wasn't much room since Joelle was standing directly in front of Andrews.

"You're not in the position to make demands agent Callen."

"She has nothing to with this. It's me and the team that you want. Let her go."

"You cost me quite a lot of money when you stopped that delivery of military grade weapons."

"Just doing my job."

"And now your job is getting Joelle hurt." Andrews grabbed Joelle tighter causing her to scream and he pointed the gun at her head. "You have three seconds to back off or I'm gonna put a bullet in her."

Kensi and Deeks were up on the balcony.

"I have a shot Callen," Kensi softly spoke.

"Take it."

Andrews looked at him, wondering who he was talking to. Before he knew it a bullet entered his shoulder causing him to let go of Joelle. Sam and Callen quickly moved in. Callen took Joelle away from him as Sam cleared him of his weapon.

"It's okay Joelle, it's okay," Callen tried to calm her down.

"Callen, I was so scared."

Callen put his arms around her and pulled her closer. "It's okay Jo, it's over. We got him. He's not gonna hurt you anymore. It's okay."

Andrews was still alive. Sam pulled him up and put him in the interrogation room.

"You can't keep me here, you shot me. I need medical attention!" Andrews yelled as Sam put him down on the chair.

"You'll live. Now the sooner you start talking the sooner you can go to the hospital."

"You can't do this! I have rights!"

"Multiple agencies have been after you and your company and they would all love some answers and to talk to you. Now you can talk to me or I can hand you over to one of them but then a deal is off the table."

Sam sat across the table from him and waited for Andrews to start talking.

Callen took Joelle over to the couch to make sure she was okay.

"You hurt anywhere?"

"No, I'm good I think."

"Come on, I'll take you home."

Joelle grabbed her things and Callen drove her to her place. Callen went inside with her and made sure everything was safe.

"I'm really sorry about tonight Jo. I can't believe he used you to get to me."

"It's not your fault Callen, you couldn't have known."

"But still it's because of me you were in this. I'm really sorry."

"It was really scary but I'm okay. Thank you for helping me."

"It was my pleasure Joelle. I checked around here, everything is safe. You'll be safe. Andrews is in custody. He can't get to you anymore."

"Can I ask you a favor Callen?"

"Of course, anything."

"I know we're not together anymore but could you maybe stay here tonight. I'd feel safer with you there."

"Yeah of course. No problem. It's the least I can do."

"Thank you Callen."

"Everything is safe around the house. You can go get some sleep."

"Or try to."

"I'll be right here if you need me."

Joelle went to the bedroom as Callen stayed in the living room. Callen lay down on the couch and kept an eye and ear open for any new sign of danger. He was really glad that Joelle was doing okay. They may not be together anymore but Callen still cared about her. He still couldn't believe this son of a bitch had used her to get to him. This is what he had been afraid of ever since he started seeing Joelle, that someone would use her to get to him. It was his job, the dangers the job brought with it. Not just for him but for the people in his life too. Maybe he was just destined to stay alone forever, it would be safer that way. He sometimes wondered if he could have what Sam had but maybe that just wasn't meant for him. He had been alone for his entire life, he was good at it. Maybe it was just better that way. He had really liked the time he spend with Joelle and for a while he thought that it maybe could work out, but he was just kidding himself, this would never work out. He totally understood why Joelle broke up with him and if he was in her shoes he probably would have done the same. He was glad that Joelle had turned to him and that he had been able to help her. They weren't together but Callen couldn't help but help her when she showed up at his house. If it wasn't for the case and the danger Joelle was in he would have liked spending time with her again. At least she was safe now and the threat had been dealt with. They probably would have enough to go on to move in on this company, so this case may have not been all that bad in the end. Joelle was safe, they had captured the bad guy and maybe they could bring down this company. Callen had closed his eyes for a little bit when his phone chirped. He looked at the screen and saw he had a message from Sam.

'Managed to get Andrews to talk. Have a lot of intel on his company. Nell and Eric have send it through to the ATF and FBI. They are working up a plan to move in now,' the message read.

'That's great Sam. Thanks for letting me know.'

'How's Joelle?'

'She's okay, a little shaken up but okay. She's in bed now, hopefully asleep. She asked me to stay the night here so I'm on the couch here. I'm glad she's alright.'

'Yeah me too. I'll see you tomorrow G.'

'Yeah see you tomorrow Sam.'

Callen put his phone back on the table and tried to get some sleep. He had just dozed off when he heard a scream coming from Joelle's bedroom.


	7. Chapter 7

Callen jumped up from the couch. He grabbed his gun from its holster and made his way over to Joelle's bedroom. Sure he hadn't been here in a while but he still knew his way around the house. Carefully Callen approached the bedroom. The door was slightly open. Callen peeked through the door to see what the danger was. He didn't see anyone in the room he just saw Joelle sitting upright in her bed, terrified. He scanned once more to make sure that there really wasn't any danger before he put the gun back in the holster and walked into the room.

"Jo," Callen spoke softly as to not to startle her.

Joelle looked his way. Callen saw she had this really frightened look on her face.

"Are you okay Jo?" Callen asked as he slowly walked up to the bed.

"Callen?"

"Yeah it's me Jo, I'm here. It's okay. You had a bad dream."

"It felt so real," Joelle said as she slowly got a grasp back on reality.

"It was just a bad dream Jo, everything is fine. It's okay. I'm sorry. You're safe here. Everything is okay," Callen replied as he sat down on the bed.

Without really saying anything else Joelle crawled up to him and into his arms. Callen wasn't sure what to do but he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay Jo. I'm here, everything is fine, you're safe."

Callen held her in his arms and rubbed up and down her back to calm her down. This felt nice and familiar.

"Callen, can I ask you a favor?" Joelle asked after a while.

"Of course Jo."

"Can you maybe stay here with me in the bed? I just don't want to be alone."

"Yeah sure, I guess."

"Thank you Callen."

"I'm here for you Joelle, it's the least I can do."

Callen released Joelle. He got up and took his shoes off. He joined Joelle in the bed and Joelle immediately crawled close to him. She just needed to feel him close to her, feel his arms around her, she still felt safe in his arms. Joelle lay her head down on his chest as Callen wrapped his arms around her. Callen noticed that Joelle had fallen asleep a little later. He just lay there awake. It was nice to be in bed with Joelle again and to hold her in his arms. He just wished it was under different circumstances.

Callen was glad that when it became morning Joelle didn't have any more nightmares.

"Morning Jo," Callen spoke as Joelle walked into the kitchen. He was making some breakfast for them.

"Morning Callen. Hmmm, it smells good."

"Have a seat, it's almost done."

"Thank you for staying with me here last night," Joelle told them as they sat down to eat breakfast.

"It's no problem Jo, it's the least I could do. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay I guess. Still a bit shaken off."

"That's normal. But everything will be alright. I'm really sorry for putting you through this."

"It's not your fault Callen, you couldn't have known."

"Still I'm sorry."

"Thank you for helping me."

"Of course Jo. Will you be okay here today? I have to go to work."

"I'll be fine Callen, don't worry about it. I have to go to work too."

"Alright. If you need me for anything, you can always call."

"Thank you Callen but I'll be fine."

"Alright."

They finished their breakfast and Callen helped Joelle clean up. Callen was about to leave when Joelle stopped him.

"Wait Callen, my car is still at your place."

"Right, come on. I'll drop you off at my place so you can get your car."

Joelle grabbed her things and got in the car with Callen. Callen drove back to his place. He needed to get a fresh set of clothes anyway. Callen parked his car in the driveway and they both got out.

"Thank you again Callen."

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're alright."

Joelle walked close to him and gave him a friendly kiss on his cheek. "Thank you Callen."

Callen watched as Joelle walked off and got in her car. He went inside when Joelle was gone and grabbed some fresh clothes. He had liked spending time with Joelle again, it felt nice and familiar. But who was he kidding. They didn't work, Joelle had made that clear to him. Callen grabbed his bag and left for work.

"Morning Sam," Callen spoke as he walked into the bullpen.

"Morning G, how's Joelle?"

"She's good. She wanted me to stay there with her tonight. She felt safer. But she's good."

Sam wanted to say something but he opted not to. He sensed something in Callen that he didn't want to talk about this further.

Once the others were in the bullpen too Eric stood on the top of the stairs and whistled the agents up for a new case.

"What's up Eric?" Callen asked.

"This morning a DOD facility here in Los Angeles was broken into and the thieves got away with three hard drives," Eric informed them.

"What was on the hard drives?" Sam asked.

"Lots of classified intel, including the identities of agents for different agencies all of the world who are undercover," Nell told them.

"That's not good," Deeks remarked.

"I conquer Mr. Deeks," Hetty spoke as she walked in. "Not good at all. We need to get these hard drives back and fast."

"Send us the address of the facility, we'll go check it out. Nell, you're coming with us. We could use you on the scene."

"Copy that," Nell spoke and got her things.

The four agents and Nell left.

"Contact the other agencies, have them pull out all of the agents on that list," Hetty spoke to the tech. "And found out who did this."

"Got it Hetty," Eric replied.

Hetty went back down to her office. She really hoped the agents on the list were safe.

The agents showed their badges to get on the scene. Callen and Sam went up to the server room as Kensi and Deeks went to check the security footage to see if they could find the thieves there.

"NCIS, agents Callen and Hanna," Callen spoke as he and Sam showed their badges. "Are you in charge here?"

"Yes I am," the man answered.

"Do you have any idea how they could have gotten into the server room?"

"No not a clue. Not all our employees have access to this room. It has to be opened with a thumb print and a key. I'm just running a search now to see who's thumb print was used." The man pressed some keys on his tablet. "Alright that's weird."

"What's weird?" Callen wondered.

"It says here that this morning. my thumb print was used to access this room. I wasn't at the office yet this early, no one was. I had an appointment with my physical therapist this morning."

"If your thumb print is used, do they have to use your key too?"

"Yes, it's a key card. The thumb print and key card both have to be from the same person to access the room."

"And you still have your key card?" Sam asked.

"Yes, it's right here." The man referred to the lanyard he was wearing with a card on it. "I have it on me at all times. When I go home I take it home with me. It's always in my bag."

"Anyone with access to that?"

"If I'm at work it's always around my neck. I did already take it to the PT this morning but it was always within my reach. My therapist was the only one there."

"Anyone else that could have had access to your card? Can they get this off of the server somehow?"

"I could be possible that they would look into our database were the key cards are stored but we checked, the system wasn't hacked."

"Can our tech look at the system?"

"Of course."

Nell set up her computer and got to work. She locked into the system so she could see if maybe something was hacked or who had access to these databases.

"Anything else broken into or stolen?" Callen asked.

"We're still doing inventory but it seems like they only went into this room. They didn't touch anything else so they were specifically looking for those hard drives but it's gonna be hard to access them. They're encrypted. Once taken out of our servers they can only be accessed by me or our head of IT. We're both here at the office now."

"Can they bypass this encryption?" Sam asked.

"With time I think every encryption can be bypassed but even if they are really good hackers it's gonna take them at least more than a couple of hours."

"What time was the break-in?" Callen asked.

"According to the logs this room was accessed at 6.24am. We have to get these hard drives back, there's a lot of sensitive information on it."

"Yeah we heard. We're gonna do everything we can to get these drives back."

"Please, ask me anything you need. I'm happy to help."

Callen and Sam looked around the office so see if they could find something suspicious. A little later Kensi and Deeks joined them upstairs.

"Anything from the cameras?" Callen asked.

"No nothing," Kensi answered. "The cameras were disabled this morning during the time of the break-in."

"Clever."

"Maybe not that clever," Nell interjected as she stepped out of the server room.

"What have you got Nell?" Sam asked.

"I noticed the server room has a camera on the inside. I looked but I couldn't find it on the regular list of cameras. It's hooked up to a separate network. If you disabled the security cameras in the rest of the office this one stays on."

"Did you get a picture of our guy?" Callen wondered.

"Yes sort of." Nell showed them the picture on her tablet. "It's a little bit dark and you can't see his complete face. I've send it to Eric, maybe he can get you a clearer image. Other than this he doesn't appear on any of the cameras, not even before they were shut down. It's pretty impossible to avoid the cameras. To switch off the cameras he had to have gone to the security office. I checked the security office. There was nothing disturbed there and the only way is through the door. But that has a camera pointed directly at it. I looked at every angle but it's just not possible to get into that room without being spotted on the camera and the camera wasn't turned in a differently angle so the thief could get in. He could have hacked it from outside but so far I'm not seeing any signs of hacking yet but I'll look further. I let you know when I have something."

Callen and Sam stayed at the scene as Kensi and Deeks went back to the office to see what Eric had found.

"Hey Callen, Sam, look at this," Nell called the agents over.

"What do you have Nell?" Callen asked.

"I looked further into the system and I found this." Callen and Sam looked at the screen. They however had no idea what it was. "This is some sort of malware. With this type of malware they can shut down the system from any location whenever they want. It's hard to see cus it just looks like normal code. Now I'm not entirely sure about this so I've send this turn Eric but I think this is how they got it."

There wasn't much more to do at the scene so Callen, Sam and Nell went back to the office. Just as they came in Eric came walking down the stairs.

"Good work Nell, this is exactly how they got into the system and I think I know who we're looking for," Eric spoke.

"Who then Eric?" Deeks asked.

"It was a couple of years ago, before I came to work with OSP. Someone had hacked a system too and it was very hard to spot. I managed to dig up that case and I compared the codes to each other. They are exactly the same. Either we have a really good copycat out there or he's back at it again."

"Who Eric?" Callen wanted to know.

Eric pressed some keys on his tablet and an ID appeared on the screen. "The man that was arrested for this crime is Charlie Stevens. He ended up going to prison and guess what….. he got released two months ago."

"Do you have a location on him?"

"Already on your phones."

"Alright good work. Let's go."

The agents got in their cars and drove to the address. Unfortunately for them he was in a public library in the computer room. Callen and Sam entered from one end and Kensi and Deeks from the other.

"Eric, you know where exactly Charlie is?" Callen asked.

"He should be on a computer in the far left corner from your position."

Callen, Sam, Kensi and Deeks walked up to that corner. Charlie spotted them coming his way and he made a run for it.

"Charlie Stevens, federal agents! Freeze!" Callen yelled.

There was an emergency exit just behind Charlie. Charlie went out via that one. Kensi and Deeks were closest so they went after him. Callen and Sam went around to cut him off. Charlie came around the building and was looking behind him so he didn't see Callen and Sam standing there. Sam extended his arm knocking Charlie against his chest, making him fall backwards on the pavement.

"What part of freeze don't you understand?" Sam spoke.

"I didn't do nothing, I swear."

"Then why did you run?" Callen interjected.

Sam put some cuffs on him and he and Callen took him to the boatshed. Kensi and Deeks went back into the library to see what Charlie was doing on the computer.

Callen put Charlie in the interrogation room and sat across from him. Sam pulled up a chair and sat next to Callen.

"Why did you run Charlie? We know it was you who hacked into the system of the DOD facility this morning," Callen said.

"I had no choice, they were gonna kill me if I didn't do did."

"Who would?" Sam asked.

"No, I'm not telling you anything. If they find out I talked they'll kill me."

"We can help you Charlie, but you have to be straight with us," Callen told him. "Who hired you? We'll find them."

"You can't find them."

"Just give us a name Charlie. If you give us a name we will tell that you helped us. You can get a deal."

Charlie thought about it for a second. "His name is Omar Tahir."

"Thank you Charlie."

Callen and Sam left the boatshed. There was an agent there to look after Charlie. The partners went back to the office and Callen called Eric and Nell to have them look into Omar Tahir.

About thirty minutes after Callen and Sam had arrived back at the office the wonder twins came down the stairs.

"We looked into Omar Tahir. He's originally from Afghanistan and he moved to Los Angeles about five years ago. Recently the DOD has been looking into him cus they suspect he has ties with the Taliban," Eric informed them.

"They haven't been able to find anything that stuck but he is suspected of it," Nell continued. "Now that combined with the information that was stolen from the DOD facility I think it's likely that he was ordered to do that by the Taliban and he could have played that information onto them already."

"If the Taliban get a hold of a list of undercover operatives it's very bad," Callen stated.

"I conquer Mr. Callen," Hetty spoke as she walked into the bullpen. "Just hope he hasn't been able to crack the decryption yet. You better find him fast."

"We might have a location on him already," Nell said. "We tracked him to this warehouse in Culver City. That was twenty minutes ago but the cameras didn't spot him leaving."

"Alright guys, let's gear up," Callen said.

The team grabbed their gear and went to the address. They parked the car in front of the entrance gate and got out. Kensi and Deeks went around back as Callen and Sam took the front.

"In position," came Kensi's voice over the coms.

"Move in on my count. Three, two, one," Callen replied.

The agents breached the warehouse, rifles at the ready. A few steps into the building they were greeted by gun fire. They ducked behind the first thing they could find and fired back whenever they could. They heard the men shouting something Arabic to Omar Tahir who was at the computer with some other guy, probably trying to hack the hard drives. As soon as the bullets started flying the other guy wanted to stop the decryption and run for his life but Omar put a gun to his head and ordered him to finish it.

After a few minutes the bad guys were down leaving just Omar and the other guy. Rifles drawn the agents walked up to the two men.

"Put the gun down Omar! It's over!" Callen yelled.

Without thinking twice Omar pulled the gun on the agents. He was about to shoot but the team was faster and shot Omar in the chest, making him go down. The man behind the computer ducked underneath the table. The four agents walked up to the table and pulled the man up.

"Did you encrypt the drives?" Callen asked.

"No, I tried to but I couldn't get in. The information is still safe."

Kensi and Deeks took the man to the boatshed as Callen and Sam stayed behind to wrap up. They questioned the man thoroughly but he didn't have anything to do with this. Just like Charlie he was forced to do this. Callen and Sam took the drives back to the office. Eric and Nell checked but it really did seem that the encryption was still intact. The two agents took the drives back to the DOD facility.

The four agents sat in the bullpen as Hetty approached.

"The DOD facility just called. The drives are intact and no information was missing. Good job everyone," Hetty spoke.

Everyone was glad that the information on the hard drives was safe. The agents were safe. They finished filling out their paperwork before heading home. Callen parked his car in the driveway and got inside after retrieving his mail. He sat on the couch reading his mail when there was a knock on the door. Callen put the mail down on the coffee table and went to open the door. He was surprised to see Joelle standing there. Before he could say anything more Joelle jumped into his arms and kissed him.


	8. Chapter 8

Callen wasn't sure what was going on. Joelle just showed up at his door and jumped into his arms. Callen pulled up of the kiss and just looked at her.

"Jo, what are you doing?" Callen asked her.

Joelle wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes, his damn gorgeous blue eyes.

"After everything that happened I did some thinking. I know I broke up with you cus of your job. But after last night, having you near me, it felt nice to be around you again and to lay in your arms. I got to thinking. I know your job hasn't changed and I'm not asking you to give it up, I just realized that I want to be with you."

"But what about my job? Are you okay with that?"

"After what happened yesterday I think I can handle it. I want to try, I want us to have another chance. I love you, I never stopped loving you but I didn't think I could handle your job but I think now I can."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes I am. I want to be with you. I am sure about this if you want this too."

Callen pulled Joelle to him and kissed her.

"I take that as a yes," Joelle spoke once Callen stopped kissing her.

"Yes, I've missed you. We can make this work, I know we can."

"I've missed you too, just promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"Come home every night."

"I promise I will come home."

"Good."

"And you don't have to worry so much about me."

"I know, I'll try to not do that so much."

"Good and I promise I will try not to get shot."

"Good."

Callen pulled Joelle closer and kissed her again, this time more deeply. He was glad to have her back in his arms and in his life. He had really missed her. He had told everyone he was over her but he wasn't, he never wasn't. He still loved her. He had hoped that she would come back to him and now she had. He just hoped she wouldn't leave again, he probably couldn't take that a second time.

Callen kept kissing her as he picked her up. Joelle automatically wrapped her legs around his waist. It felt so good to kiss Callen again, she had missed him so much. She had tried to see other men but they couldn't compare to Callen, they didn't even come close. He was the one for her. So his job put him at risk and perhaps her too but after what happened she was sure she could deal with that. She just wanted to be with him and she knew he would protect her. Joelle noticed that Callen was walking them to the bedroom and she had absolutely no problem with that.

Callen gently lay her down on the bed and lay down on top of her. It felt so good to be with her again. He hadn't told anyone but when he was with Joelle last night his mind had wondered to this in his sleep. He was glad that this wasn't a dream and that she was really here again. Callen moved his lips to her neck as he went to undo the buttons of her blouse. It felt so good to kiss her again and to feel her skin beneath his hands. Joelle lifted her upper body up a bit so Callen could take her blouse off. Once her blouse was off Joelle lay back down on the bed as Callen threw her blouse somewhere. Joelle moved her hands lower and grabbed the hem of his shirt in her hands before pulling it up on his body. Callen stopped kissing her momentarily so Joelle could take his shirt off and she threw it on the floor as well. Their pants, socks and shoes quickly followed, leaving them in just their underwear.

Callen wanted so savor this moment, not just let this be a quickie because they had gotten back together. Joelle was getting impatient. She liked Callen kissing her and kissing her neck but she wanted more.

"G please," Joelle moaned.

Callen understood what she wanted and it was cruel to tease her. Callen slid his hands behind her and undid the clasp of her bra. He took it off of her and threw it on the floor with the rest of their clothing. Callen moved his lip down and pleasured her. Joelle really enjoyed this but this wasn't exactly what she wanted. A few seconds later she felt Callen taking her panties off. Soon the pleasure became too great and she was writhing underneath Callen's touch.

Once she came down from her high she pushed Callen back down on the bed and pleasured him. She really was the best Callen ever had. Once he had finished Callen turned Joelle back on her back and positioned himself in between her legs. It felt so good to be with her again like this. They fit together perfectly, it was just so good.

"Oh G, this feels so good," Joelle moaned.

"I know, if feels perfect. Oh fuck," Callen growled out that last part.

It really felt good. It was just perfect, they belonged together. Joelle's nails were clawing in Callen's back but he didn't care. She screamed his name as she came and Callen shortly followed screaming her name.

"Oh wow, that was amazing," Callen uttered as he rolled off of her.

"Oh yes it really was." Joelle pulled up the covers and rolled onto her side, facing Callen. "Thank you for that G."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you're here again."

"Me too. I've really missed you."

"I've missed you too. I love you Jo."

"I love you too G. I'm sorry I broke up with you. I thought I couldn't handle it but now I think I can, I know I can. I love you and I just want to be with you."

"I want to be with you too."

"We can just forget that and start over, a new beginning."

"I'd like that. A new beginning for us."

"And this time it will work, I'm sure of it."

"That's good." Callen pulled Joelle close and gave her a kiss on her head. "Goodnight Jo."

"Goodnight G."

Joelle lay her head down on Callen's chest as Callen wrapped his arms around her.

Joelle stretched herself in Callen's arms the next morning as she woke up.

"Good morning Jo."

"Good morning G."

"Last night was really great."

"Oh yes it was. It was perfect."

Together they got in the shower before having breakfast. They were getting ready to leave for work.

"Before I forget," Callen spoke and handed a key to Joelle.

"A key?"

"Yes a key to my house so you can let yourself in tonight. Unless you want to go home."

"Thank you G. No, I will come here tonight after work. I will cook you a nice meal."

"I'd like that."

Callen gave Joelle a kiss before they both got in their cars and drove to work.

"Good morning Sam," Callen spoke in a happy tone as he walked into the bullpen, only Sam was there.

"Good morning G, you seem in a good mood."

"Yeah I feel good."

Callen placed his bag next to his desk and sat down. Sam could tell something was different with his partner he just didn't know what. Sam looked at Callen as he was getting started for the day.

"What?" Callen asked as he caught Sam staring.

"Just trying to figure out what's different about you."

"It's still me Sam, still same old me."

"Still something is different about you."

For now Callen decided not to tell Sam that he and Joelle were back together.

Callen was happy to go home at the end of the day, he was glad to see Joelle again. When he arrived at his house he saw Joelle's car already parked there. He parked his car and walked into the house. When he walked into the house the lovely smell of dinner came at him. It smelled great.

"Hey Jo," Callen greeted as he walked into the kitchen.

"Hey G."

Callen walked up to Joelle and gave her a kiss. "Hmm it smells delicious."

"It's almost done. Can you set the table?"

"Of course."

Callen gave her one more kiss before he went to set the table. Callen helped Joelle carry the pans to the table and they sat down.

"So how was your day?" Callen asked.

"It was good, except for a few kids who were a little bit of a handful."

"I imagine it can't be easy with a lot of those little ones."

"It's hard work sometimes but I love it. I love working with kids."

"You seem like a great teacher."

"Thank you G." Joelle smiled at him. "How was your day?"

"It was just fine. Quiet day, just some paperwork and catching up with old cases. I don't really like paperwork but it's part of the job and with me being the team leader I have more than the others."

"Sounds like fun."

"I was thinking, maybe it would be nice for the two of us to go somewhere over the weekend, a little weekend trip. Unless you have plans already."

"No I have no plans and yeah that sounds nice, whereto?"

"Leave that to me, I wanna surprise you."

"I like surprises, I'm in."

"Great."

"Are you sure you can get away with your job?"

"Yes we very hardly ever have to work in the weekend."

"Alright then, surprise me."

"Great."

…

That Thursday it was Callen's birthday. Tomorrow after work they would leave for the weekend Callen had planned for them.

"Good morning Jo," Callen spoke once their alarms went off.

"Good morning G and happy birthday." Joelle scooted over to Callen and gave him a kiss.

"Thank you Jo."

"Will you be home tonight, before dinner?"

"I hope so, I'll really try but I never know."

"Right, just try cus I have a special dinner for you tonight."

"Then I'll definitely try," Callen replied with a smile.

"Good."

Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before he got out to get a shower. When he came out Joelle had already made breakfast for them. After breakfast Joelle went to take a shower as Callen cleaned up. Callen filled both their mugs with coffee and waited for Joelle to finish. Once they were both ready they left for work.

"Have a good day today G," Joelle told Callen and gave him a kiss. "And be careful."

"I will, I promise. You have a good day too."

Callen gave Joelle another kiss before they both got in their cars and drove to work.

"Morning," Callen spoke as he walked into the bullpen.

"Morning," came the reply of the other agents.

"Happy birthday G," Sam spoke.

"Thank you Sam."

"Happy birthday Callen," Kensi and Deeks added.

"Thanks guys."

"Good morning everyone," Hetty spoke as she walked into the bullpen. "And happy birthday Mr. Callen."

"Thank you Hetty."

"Now upstairs you go, Eric has business."

They all went upstairs and Eric and Nell explained the case to them. Callen and Sam left to go to the crime scene.

"So you got special plans for tonight?" Sam asked once they were in the car.

"No not much."

"You want me to come over, celebrate with you?"

"Nah that's good, you have that thing with Kam tonight."

"It doesn't take up the whole evening, I can come by after."

"Thanks Sam, but that's not necessary."

"Alright, I guess."

Callen still hadn't told Sam that he and Joelle were back together again. He knew that Sam knew that something was up but he was glad that his partner didn't press the matter. He just wanted to spend some time with Joelle again before telling the others. He really loved it that she was back in his life. Since they had gotten back together they spend every night together. Sometimes at Callen's house, sometimes at Joelle's house. They both loved being together. Callen had noticed that Joelle had changed, she understood his job more now and she wasn't that afraid of it anymore. Of course she still worried but not so much anymore, she knew Callen would come home to her. She was really glad that she had given them another chance, she had really missed Callen when they were apart, they belonged together. Joelle knew that now and she could deal with his job.

They managed to wrap the case up just before 5.30pm. Callen quickly finished his paperwork before going home.

"Hey Jo," Callen called as he walked into the house.

Joelle came walking out of the hallway wearing a beautiful blue cocktail dress. The bottom was a satin, just-above-the-knee, skirt with a band around the waist, the top was satin too but then with a layer of lace over it. The satin top was strapless and the lace was short sleeved with just leaving her shoulders a bit naked. She wore skin colored panty hose underneath it and finished the outfit with dark blue pumps and a sarong for over her shoulders.

"Wow, you look beautiful," Callen uttered.

"Thank you G. There are clothes for you on the bed, you best get changed, we have to leave soon."

"Leave, leave where?"

"It's part of the surprise."

Callen gave Joelle a quick kiss and went to get changed. He changed himself in a pair of dress jeans with a dark blue and white plaid button down shirt and a dark blue jacket. He finished the outfit with brown leather shoes.

"So where are we going?" Callen asked as they got in the cab, once it was there.

"It's a surprise. You'll see when we get there."

Callen watched as the cab driver drove, wondering where they were going to eat. Callen watch surprised as they pulled into the parking lot at Ristorante La Bruschetta.

"We're eating here?" Callen asked surprised.

"Yes we are, I hope that's okay."

"Yeah it's absolutely fine. I've never been here."

"Neither have I, but the menu looked nice."

Once the cab stopped Joelle paid him and they got out.

"Good evening, welcome to La Bruschetta, under which name do you have a reservation?" The friendly female host greeted them.

"Good evening. Joelle Taylor," Joelle replied.

The woman typed some keys on her tablet. "Ah yes, right this way."

Callen and Joelle followed her to a two seats table. Callen helped Joelle sit down before he sat down himself. Shortly later a waiter walked up to them and handed them a menu card.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Can we get a bottle of wine for the table?" Callen asked.

"Of course. The wine list is right there on the table."

Callen picked up the wine list and looked at it.

"Pinot noir okay Jo?" Callen asked Joelle.

"Yes that's fine."

"The diamond ridge pinot noir please."

"Alright, I'll be back later to take your food order."

Callen and Joelle looked over the menu wondering what to choose.

"I don't know what to choose, it all looks so tasty," Callen said.

"Yeah it does."

They finally decided on what to take. Callen ordered carpaccio as starter and risotto with asparagus as main course while Joelle had a Caesar salad as starter and pasta with shrimp and eggplant.

Dinner was absolutely delicious. Callen really enjoyed this with Joelle. It was nice. Once they were done Joelle paid the bill before leaving. Joelle had called for a cab just before paying the bill. They had to wait about a minute before the cab was there. They got in the cab and the cab dropped them off at home.

"I've got another surprise for you," Joelle spoke teasingly as they walked up to the front door.

"Oh and what is that?"

"I made us my tiramisu."

"Oh I love your tiramisu."

Callen opened the door and they stepped in. Joelle grabbed the tiramisu from the fridge and they sat outside in the backyard on the porch.

"Tonight was really nice. The dinner was really nice, I've missed that."

"Me too, yeah it was really nice. It's my gift to you."

"Thank you."

They sat out on the porch just talking and enjoying the dessert. Just past 10pm Callen took Joelle inside, they had finished the entire tiramisu. Callen kissed her and led them to the bedroom. Callen put her down on the bed. Clothes were quickly discarded and they made love.

The next day after work Callen loaded their baggage in the trunk of his car. He had booked the perfect trip for him and Joelle. He really hoped she would love it. He had given her little hints here and there but she hadn't guessed yet where they were going. She had managed to get him to tell her what kind of clothes she needed to take so she could pack her bag. Joelle was really excited to see where they were going. She liked the idea of being somewhere with Callen for the whole weekend. It would be very nice.

"Where are we going G?" Joelle asked as Callen pulled away from the house.

"You'll see in a minute."

Joelle wondered what was going on when Callen pulled onto the ten freeway and then onto the Pacific Coast highway. She had an idea where they were going but she wasn't sure.


	9. Chapter 9

Joelle watched as Callen drove, her suspicions were confirmed when Callen got off the highway at Malibu road. Callen had rented them a house on the beach here with private beach access. Callen parked the car near the building and they got out. They grabbed their luggage from the trunk. A man was waiting by the entrance.

"Hello you must be Greg Walinsky," the man spoke as he approached them.

"Yes that's me," Callen replied and shook his hand. "This is my girlfriend Joelle."

"Nice to meet you, if you please follow me I'll show you the apartment."

They followed the man inside. There were a few more apartments in this building. Callen and Joelle had one on the second floor. The went up via the outside stairs on the right side of the building. They walked into the house. On the right of the front door hung the TV in the corner, behind the TV was the back wall of the house with sliding doors leading up to the balcony. The balcony overlooked the beach and the ocean. On the balcony stood two lounge chairs with a small table in between and there was an outdoor barbeque. On the other side against the back wall stood a four seats diner table and in the corner a floor lamp. On the left side of the door stood a white sofa with some white and blue cushions in it. In front of the sofa stood a wooden table on a blue rug and left of the sofa stood a wooden side table with a plant on it. On the ceiling hung a ceiling fan with light. Right of the sofa was the door leading into a hallway where the bedroom and bathroom were. Right of this door was the small u-shaped kitchen with microwave, oven, coffee maker, stove and refrigerator. In the bedroom stood a queen-sized bed with two night stands next to it. On the ceiling hung a ceiling fan with light and there was a closet with mirror doors and some cabinets above it. The bathroom had a toilet, vanity and a combination tub/shower. It looked really beautiful.

"Here are the keys to the house. There's a folder on the kitchen counter with some information about the environment here and the rules of the house. I'll be back Sunday around 8pm to pick up the keys, feel free to call me if you need anything. I hope you enjoy your stay here."

"Thank you, I'm sure we will."

Callen showed the man out.

"This is just perfect G," Joelle spoke as she stood on the balcony overlooking the ocean.

"Yeah it looks beautiful. Come on let's go eat. I've made reservations for us."

Callen and Joelle freshened up a little bit before going to the car. Callen drove them to Geoffrey's Malibu. It was a cute little place. They had a table for two on the balcony overlooking the ocean. A waiter came by the table and gave them both a menu card. Callen ordered a glass of red wine and so did Joelle. Callen did drive here but he could have one or two glasses of wine. Callen ordered the ahi tuna tarter as appetizer and the Kobe wagyu New York steak as main course. Joelle picked out the golden quinoa salad as appetizer and as main course she picked the oven roasted chicken roulade. The dinner was really delicious.

Both Callen and Joelle were having a good time. It was nice to go out to dinner. Joelle really liked going away this weekend with Callen. She was glad that she had decided to go back to him. She really loved him. So his job put him at risk, Callen had promised her that he would be very careful and that he would always come home to her. After what had happened she was sure that she could deal with it, she loved Callen and she wanted to be with him no matter what.

They decided to have some dessert too. Callen picked the warm crisp apple tart and Joelle had Geoffrey's crème Brûlée. Once they had finished their desserts Callen paid the bill. They got back in the car and Callen drove them back to the house. It was a beautiful day outside so they opted to spend the rest of the evening outside on the balcony. Callen grabbed them a bottle of pinot noir he had brought from home and poured them both a glass. Callen put the glasses on the small table in between them and they both sat down on one lounge chair. The sun was setting over the ocean. It was a beautiful view.

"Thank you for taking me here G, it's perfect," Joelle spoke.

"You're welcome Jo. I thought it would be nice for us, just to get out."

"Yeah it is. We've never done this before."

"No we haven't. I like it."

"Me too."

They chatted for a while outside before going inside just after 11pm. Joelle took their glasses inside as Callen closed the door and the curtains. Just before Joelle walked into the hallway to the bedroom Callen pulled her close to him and kissed her deeply. Joelle immediately kissed him back as Callen led her backwards to the bedroom. Callen kept walking her backwards until she hit the bed with her legs and tumbled over, taking him with her. Callen moved her so she was lying in the middle of the bed. He kept kissing her as he proceeded in undressing her and Joelle did the same with his clothes. Once they had finished they lay curled up in each other's arms.

"I love you G," Joelle told Callen in a passionate voice.

"I love you too Jo," Callen replied in the same voice.

Callen gave her a soft kiss on her head. Joelle lay her head down on Callen's chest and snuggled against him as Callen wrapped his arms around her. Callen noticed that Joelle had fallen asleep a little later. He lay awake for a while thinking about everything. He was so glad that Joelle was back in his life again. He had really missed her. He felt like she was the one for him. He vowed to himself to always come home to her. He really hoped she was here for good now and the she wasn't going to leave again. He didn't think he could handle it if she left him again but something inside of him told her she wouldn't. If she wasn't sure about it she wouldn't have come back to him, right? Callen pulled her closer and fell asleep a little later too.

The next morning Callen got out around 8.30am and went to make them breakfast. He had taken some things from home for this already. He pre-heated the oven and put some bread in it once it was warm. Just after the breads were done Joelle walked in the main room.

"Hmmm, it smells lovely here," Joelle stated.

"Breakfast is almost done so have a seat at the table."

Joelle sat down at the table and a little later Callen brought over the breads and two plates with scrambled eggs.

"Hmm it looks delicious G."

"Hope it tastes delicious too."

Callen had really improved his cooking skills, Joelle had been a good teacher. Breakfast was really nice. They cleaned up after breakfast and changed into some shorts and shirts. They grabbed some towels and Joelle grabbed a bag and they went down to the beach. It was a beautiful March day, but it was a little bit too cold to sit there in just their swimsuits. They found a nice spot just in front of their house and lay down on their towels. It wasn't really busy on the beach. They spend the entire day relaxing on the beach. Just before 6pm they went upstairs. Together they got in the tub/shower. They took turns standing underneath the beam to wash themselves. For tonight Callen had made reservations at Duke's Malibu. It was about a ten minute drive by car. Callen was already finished, he had dressed himself in a pair of dress jeans and a blue and white plaid shirt. He was waiting in the living room when he saw Joelle step out into the living room. She was wearing a green knee length dress with an elastic band in the waist, the dress was flowing at the bottom with a layer of silk over it. She finished the outfit with a black bolero and black pumps with skin colored panty hose.

"You look beautiful," Callen stated when he saw Joelle.

"Thank you, you look very handsome too."

"Thank you." Callen extended his arm out. "Ready to go?"

"Yes."

Joelle looped her arm around Callen's arm and together they left. They got in Callen's car and Callen drove them to the restaurant. It was a nice restaurant. Callen and Joelle had a table near the windows, right above the ocean. The were some rocks and then the ocean started. They saw the waves crash against the rocks. Callen held the seat out for Joelle and sat her down before he sat down himself. A little later the waiter came and gave them both a menu. Joelle and Callen both ordered a glass of cabernet sauvignon. As starter they both picked the Maui onion soup. Callen had the prime rib as main course while Joelle took the roasted jidori chicken. It was really delicious. They had some dessert too, Callen had the chef's special hula pie and Joelle had the key lime pie.

They went back to the house after paying for dinner and they decided to take a stroll down the beach with the sun setting over the ocean. Hand in hand they walked over the beach in the surf. It was nice to unwind for a while. Apart from the three weeks off he had in the summer Callen didn't have that much free time, it was nice just to get away from the city, even though it wasn't that far. He liked going away with Joelle. Maybe they would do this more often, Callen certainly hoped so. Callen was lost in thought when Joelle pushed him gently making him stumble into the water. Joelle couldn't help but laugh as she watched Callen.

"Oh you think that's funny," Callen teased.

"No," Joelle tried to speak sincerely but her giggling ruined it.

Callen put his hands in the water and splashed some water in Joelle's direction. Joelle screamed a little as she ran way a bit.

"Hey you started it."

Callen ran up Joelle as she ran away from him. He picked her up from behind and took her into the ocean with him. Callen and Joelle were laughing as they had their little water fight. Drenched they walked back to the house. They took a few steps into the house and walked onto the balcony. They took their drenched clothes off and hung them to dry over the balcony railing. With their underwear on they walked to the bathroom. Joelle filled the tub and put some soap in it. They both took their underwear off and got in the tub. Joelle sat in between Callen's leg with her back against his chest.

"I'm really liking this weekend with you," Callen admitted.

"Me too. It's really nice. We should do this more often."

"We should. Maybe we can go away more often and then a little longer."

"I have spring break coming up shortly, maybe we can get away then."

"Uhm, I don't think I can get the time off from work."

"Oh yeah right. When do you have time off from work?"

"I get a couple weeks in the summer and two weeks with Christmas."

"Nothing more?"

"Nope, the occasional off day here and there when it are national holidays but other than that no. Someone has to protect our country."

"Right, well maybe we can go away then in the summer."

"I'd like that."

They enjoyed some time in the tub. Without getting themselves dressed they walked to the bedroom. They made love before falling asleep. They slept in the next day and had some breakfast. After breakfast Joelle went to put their bed sheets in the washing machine, there was one downstairs for the entire building, as Callen cleaned the place up a bit already. They still had today here but they wanted to make sure the place was clean before they left. They sat down on the balcony and enjoyed the nice spring sun. Joelle grabbed the scrabble game and they played some scrabbled outside.

After lunch they went down to the beach. Joelle went back a little later to take their bed sheets out of the dryer, she had put them in the dryer before they left for the beach. They stayed at the beach till just past 6pm. They ordered some pizza and enjoyed it on the balcony. Around 8pm the owner of the house came by.

"Hello, how was your stay here?"

"Very nice. It was perfect."

"That's good to hear. I'll just take a look around and then you can go."

The owner took a look around. When he saw that everything was in order Callen handed the keys back to him and they loaded their luggage back into the car. Callen drove them back to his place.

"Thank you for this weekend G," Joelle spoke once they were inside. "It was just perfect."

"Yes it was."

…..

Monday they went back to work.

"Morning," Callen spoke as he walked into the bullpen, only Sam was there.

"Morning G, how was your weekend?"

"It was just fine." Callen noticed that Sam was looking at him with this look on his face. "What?"

"When were you planning on telling me that you and Joelle got back together?"

"What? What makes you think we're back together?"

"Don't play dumb with me G. I saw you two together Thursday. When Kam's thing had ended I decided to come by your place anyway. When I knocked on your door you weren't there. I was in my car and was about to leave when I saw the cab pull up and you and Joelle stepped out and she walked back inside with you, you two seemed to have a good time. Are you two back together? Is this what you were hiding from me?"

"Yes, we're back together. I didn't tell you…"

"That's great G. I get it G, okay. I get why you didn't tell me at first. How long have you been back together?"

"Just after we got that case where that man was after Joelle to get to me."

"I'm happy for you G. She's back for good? She can handle your job now?"

"She said that after what happened she started to see it differently and she said she can handle it better now. She will still worry about me but she can handle it now."

"Michelle is an agent herself and she still worries about me G. That's what you do for people you love. I'm happy for you. I know how much you liked her."

"Yeah I do. It's nice to have her back in my life again, I just hope she doesn't leave again. I don't think I can handle that."

"I'm sure she won't G. if she wasn't sure she could handle it she wouldn't have come back to you."

Callen and Sam looked up as Eric came walking down in a kilt.

"Hey guys, I got something you'll want to see," Eric spoke as Callen and Sam looked at him in a weird way.

"Oh, boy. Well, I'll tell you what I don't want to see. It's you wearing a skirt," Sam replied.

"This is a tactical work kilt."

"Yeah, well, your work kilt ain't working. Has Hetty seen that?" Callen said.

"She has, indeed. And for your information, I have received a plethora of compliments this morning on my chosen attire."

"Trust me, they were just being nice," Sam told him.

"Hmm, unlike you two."

"Ooooh, McBeale counter punches," Callen teased him.

"Boys, don't poke the bear, unless you want a bear that's angry," Eric replied as he walked upstairs to OPS and Callen and Sam followed him.

"An angry bear in a dress," Sam said.

"Now that would make any bear angry," Callen added.

"It's a kilt!" They walked in OPS. "Kensi and Deeks are on their way in, but I thought you should see."

Callen and Sam walked into OPS and saw Kirkin's pictures on the big screen. Sam sighed.

"I'm hating this already," Sam spoke.

"Something happen to Kirkin?" Callen asked.

"Lucky us."

They started working the case and they found Kirkin locked in a shipping container. Just after they had found him they heard a motorbike on the scene. They tried to stop the motorbike, Callen managed to get a shot off. The person on the motor bike tried to run but Kensi stopped her and put her out cold. Callen removed the helmet and saw it was Anna. Anna had taken Kirkin and put him in that container since some people who wanted him might had information on where her father Arkady was. Even though they had found Kirkin they still proceeded with Anna's plan. They received a video file of Arkady being held in a Russian prison. Callen decided to help her. Arkady was maybe the only link he had left to finding out more about his family.

Callen walked outside and overlooked the marina. A little later Sam joined him.

"Thank you," Callen sincerely spoke to him.

"For what?"

"For not coming out here and telling me that I shouldn't be helping Anna rescue Arkady."

"I got to be honest, G. What I'm saying and what I'm feeling, they're at odds. But I get it. Arkady's a link to you finding out what kind of man your father was. Your history."

"Look, I have to do this. You don't."

"I know, but that's what we do."

They released Kirkin with an agent and Hetty joined them in the boatshed. She brought them some attire. They were going undercover at a charity gala at the Russian consul general's. It was the only way to find out exactly where Arkady was being held. Before leaving Callen pulled Anna aside.

"Are you good to do this?" Callen asked.

"I'm fine Callen, don't worry about me. It's not my first rodeo."

"Okay good. Just to be clear, I know I have to pretend to be your boyfriend but I do have a girlfriend in real life."

"It's just an undercover job Callen, nothing more."

"Okay good."

Callen, Sam and Anna dressed up in some formal wear and took a limo to the gala. Callen was pretending to be Anna's boyfriend. She was a nice woman but he was with Joelle, it wasn't the first time he had to pretend to be someone's boyfriend. It was just like any other job to him. They managed to get in and they got the information they wanted.

"Are we being sanctioned to go to Russia and rescue them?" Callen wondered once Hetty told them the true identity of the other prisoner.

"No, not them. Just Sharov."

"The Russian could be baiting us with Sharov, forcing Arkady to work with them," Sam stated.

"Well that may very well be the case."

"Hetty, we're not gonna just leave Arkady to rot," Callen reasoned with her.

"You asked me if you were being sanctioned to rescue Arkady. I already answered that question."

Callen got the message to read between the lines.

"The agency will help you with some of their contacts, but they cannot guarantee your safety."

"And if FSB intervenes?"

"You're there as rogue agents on an unsanctioned mission."

Callen knew it was dangerous but this was their job and he wasn't about to let Arkady rot in there.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning."

"I'll inform the team," Sam spoke.

"No, only the two of you are going," Hetty told them.

"What do you want to do about Anna?" Sam asked.

"Sharov is your objective. Anna's knowledge of Russia will be useful, but the moment she or Arkady compromise your mission, you get them loose."

"Understood," Callen said.

He and Sam left. The went home for the night and then tomorrow they would leave for Russia. Callen wondered how Joelle would handle this. Since they had gotten serious Callen really hadn't been on many long business trips. Joelle knew he sometimes could be called away for business for more than a day but this was the first time since they had gotten back together. Callen hoped Joelle would be able to handle it.


	10. Chapter 10

"Hey Jo," Callen called as he walked into the house.

"Hey G," Joelle called back from the kitchen.

Callen placed his bag by the door and walked towards the kitchen. He walked up to Joelle and gave her a kiss. "How was your day?"

"It was just fine. How about yours?"

"It was good. Dinner smells great."

"It's almost done, can you set the table."

"Of course."

Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before he went to set the table. He helped Joelle carry the pans over to the table and they sat down to eat. Now was a good a time as ever to tell Joelle he had to go away.

"Something has come up at work, I have to go away for a few days," Callen told her straightforward.

Joelle knew this could happen but she was expecting it. "Oh, okay."

"I know we just got back together….."

"It's your job G. If you have to go, you have to go."

"I can't tell you everything about the case but if you want I can tell you as much as I can. If that would be better for you."

"Is it dangerous?"

"My job can always be dangerous, but this is a risky mission."

"Is Sam going with you?"

"Yes he is and I promise you I'll be careful but the mission does has its risks."

"Okay." Callen could tell that Joelle was a bit uncomfortable with this. He hoped this wouldn't change her decision about coming back to him. "Don't worry about me G."

"Huh?" Callen was shocked out of his thoughts.

"Don't worry about me G. I'll be here when you get back."

Callen smiled at her, it was like she could read his thoughts. "That's good. I don't know how long I'll be gone. It's not undercover, I just have to work a case somewhere else, so maybe I can call you."

"That's fine. Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I will be very careful Jo."

"Okay good. When are you leaving?"

"Early tomorrow morning."

"For how long?"

"I'm not sure yet, probably three days, maybe less, maybe more. Depends on how fast we can solve the case."

"Alright."

They finished diner and enjoy a quiet evening on the couch. Joelle was already upstairs when Callen went upstairs too. He walked towards the bedroom and heard something like crying coming from the bedroom. He walked into the bedroom and saw Joelle crying on the bed.

"Hey honey, what's wrong?" Callen asked as he walked up to the bed and sat down next to Joelle on the bed.

"Oh, it's nothing," Joelle replied as she wiped her eyes.

"It's gonna be okay Jo. I'll be back before you know it. I promise. I promised you I'd come back to you and I will."

"I just don't wanna lose you, not after we just got back together."

Callen pulled Joelle towards him and wrapped his arms around her. "You're not gonna lose me Jo. It's just a few days and then I'll be back, I promise. It's gonna be okay Jo. It's okay that you worry about me, but I promise you I'll be careful and I'll come back to you. I'll be fine Jo." Callen pulled Joelle upright and looked into her eyes. "I love you Joelle, you're not gonna lose me."

"Promise?"

"I promise. I wanna spend many more years with you. It's gonna be okay."

Callen wiped the tears from her face with his thumbs. He leaned forward and kissed Joelle deeply and passionately. He knew the mission was dangerous but he had to do this and he had no plans to die in Russia.

Callen picked Joelle up and placed her in the middle of the bed and lay down on top of her without breaking the kiss. Callen moved his hands underneath Joelle's pajama top and pulled it up over her head. Joelle's hands found the hem of Callen's shirt and pulled it up over his head. They made passionate and sweet love. Callen made sure Joelle could feel that he really wasn't going anywhere and that he would be back in a few days. With him leaving the love making seemed better somehow. It felt so good to both of them. Joelle clung to Callen for dear life as she reach her high point and Callen followed shortly after. Once they had regained their breaths they looked into each other's eyes. Joelle placed her hand on Callen's cheek.

"I love you G Callen and I know you'll come back to me but I will worry about you when you're gone."

"I love you too Joelle Taylor. That's only normal, it's what you do for people you love. Sam told me that, even though Michelle is an agent too, she still worries about him. I'll keep good to my promise and I will come back to you."

"Good, I'm gonna miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you too, it's just for a few days."

"Make love to me again G."

Even though they had just made love, Joelle wanted to again. She wanted to feel close to Callen while he was still here.

"Anything for you," Callen replied with a smirk.

After they had finished they fell asleep in each other's arms. Callen was woken up early the next morning by his alarm. He quietly slipped out of bed and got dressed. He packed his bag.

"G," Joelle called before Callen wanted to leave the bedroom.

"Yeah Jo?"

"Be careful."

"I will Jo."

Callen walked over to her and gave her a deep kiss. "I'll be careful and I'll be back before you know it. I love you."

"I love you too."

"You're welcome to stay at my house while I'm gone, I don't mind."

"Okay."

Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before he left. Sam was there to pick him up.

"How did Joelle take it?" Sam asked as Callen got in the car.

"Okay, I could tell it was hard for her and that she worries about me but I think it'll be okay."

"Okay good."

Callen and Sam went to pick up Anna and they went to the airport. They arrived in a cold Moscow. Luckily they had packed some warm things. They went to Hetty's loft they had stayed at the previous time as well. They figured out their plan and they decided to get a guard who works at the prison to find out exactly where Arkady and Sharov were being held.

Callen and Sam kept watch outside as Anna went into the club. Anna managed to get him outside and she pushed him into a van. Callen and Sam dropped Anna off at the loft and brought the guard to a warehouse. They interrogated him and in the end they found out where Arkady and Sharov were being held.

Okay, now they knew where they were being held but that still left them with the task of getting them out. This Russian prison wasn't easy to break in. He wasn't really helpful with finding a way to get them out, he said it was impossible. Callen and Sam released him and they went to the loft.

"Anna?" Callen called as they walked into the loft.

"In here," Anna called back from the dining area.

"You found the equipment," Sam stated.

"You didn't tell me Hetty can be in two places at once."

"Two's an understatement."

"There's food in the kitchen." Sam picked up a gun and a cleaning cloth and went to the kitchen. "I did that one already."

"Doesn't like anyone touching his weapon, so to speak," Callen explained. "You gonna be able to get the rest of the stuff we need?"

"Yes, I already have somebody working on the ambulance. The drug is easy."

"Well, let's hope one of 'em isn't allergic. Any idea about your dad?"

"Oh, you mean Arkady? Yeah, calling him my dad would be a stretch. HE's more of a business associate."

"Hmm, all this for a business associate, huh?"

"Look, if either one of them has an allergic reaction to the hydromorphone, we need to get them in the ambulance fast enough to revive them. Can we count on Vlad?"

"We should be able to. All he has to do is get the drugs into Arkady and Sharov and tell everyone he's called an ambulance once they are out. The rest is up to us."

"What's our backup?"

"We don't have one."

"Okay. What's our escape plan if things go bad?"

"Get the hell out of dodge."

"I thought you did this for a living."

"Breaking into Russian prisons? No, this is a, this a first for us."

"Let's hope you have a knack for it."

They couldn't do much more now than wait so Callen pulled his phone out and called Joelle. It was evening here in Moscow but in Los Angeles it was just past noon.

"Hey G," Joelle answered.

"Hey Jo," Callen replied. "Am I interrupting you?"

"No it's fine, I'm having my lunch break. How are you? How is the case going?"

"It's going fine so far. We're working on gathering intel before we can actually move in."

"Okay that's good. Just be careful."

"I will Jo, I promise. I'll call you later if I have time or otherwise I'll call when we're on our way home."

"That's fine G, just be safe."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too."

"I'll see you soon."

"Yeah see ya, bye."

"Bye."

Callen hung up the phone and he, Sam and Anna went over the plan to try to get Arkady and Sharov out.

It was already the middle of the night but Callen was still up. Sam and Anna had gone to bed already but Callen just sat on the couch going over the plan.

"Why are you still up?" Anna's voice shocked Callen out of his thoughts.

Callen sighed as he folded the map. "Sleeping has never been one of my strong suits."

"Aren't you cold? Freezing out here," Anna spoke as she walked over to the couch and sat down.

"Eh, I'm okay."

"Who's that?" Anna asked as she looked at Callen's laptop screen.

"Remember you asked about a backup plan? You may be looking at him. According to our tech guys, we have a less than six percent chance of pulling this off."

"Maybe we get lucky."

Callen leaned back on the couch and sighed. "And maybe we get captured and killed."

"You shouldn't have gotten involved in all this."

"You couldn't have done this alone."

"Yeah, but at least, then, nobody else gets hurt if I fail a solo attempt."

"We have come too far to back down. Besides, Pavel may be able to turn the odds in our favor."

"How?"

"By changing where the game is played. Look, we have a big day tomorrow. Why don't you get some sleep."

"Oh. No, no, no. I'm fine. Really. Just, um, tell me the plan."

"Well first we have to find Pavel, he's got connections to make some things happens. But he's going to want something from us in return. Guy like Pavel it's not about money for him and we always run the risk of him selling us out."

Callen stopped and noticed Anna had put her head on his shoulder and had fallen asleep. Callen pulled her blanket up a little more. She was a nice girl but she was no Joelle. Callen carefully stood up from the couch and placed Anna on the couch so she could sleep. Callen went to the dinner table and went over the plan so more.

He managed to get a few hours of sleep. The next day they had managed to find Pavel and he met Callen and Sam at the warehouse. Pavel wanted to help them but there was a catch. The team in Los Angeles had to find a person of interest to him. If they would apprehend him Pavel would them in moving Arkady and Sharov. Pavel left and Callen and Sam went back to the loft. They would just have to wait until they would hear back from the LA office.

Anna was in the kitchen making coffee when Callen walked in.

"Our team in LA located Fedor. They're gonna make contact with him now."

"Great. Coffee?"

"Sure." Anna grabbed another cup and poured Callen some coffee. "Thanks."

"Come on. Join me," Anna spoke as she walked over to the table and Callen joined her.

Sure having coffee with her in the loft here wouldn't do any harm. For a minute it was quiet.

"What do you think about me?" Anna asked.

Callen wondered where this was going. He did tell Anna he had a girlfriend. "That's kind of a broad question."

"Yeah, I guess it is," Anna replied with a smile. "Callen, I don't know if what I'm doing is right."

"About Arkady?"

Anna nodded. "When I was a child I used to make up these stories about him. Stories about him doing amazing things all over the world. Being a hero, helping people."

Callen knew exactly what she was talking about. When he was a kid he fantasized about his parents very often. "And for those reasons, he wasn't able to be there. There wasn't enough time for him to be your dad."

"You know these stories."

"I would wager that your stories, they were better than the stories I told myself when I was a kid."

"Why is that?" Anna wondered.

"Your dad had a name." Anna smiled at Callen's answer. "Why do you smile?"

"I just, I try to tell myself that-that people that do what we do, do the jobs that we do, I try to tell myself that we're normal. But the only people I come across are broken, like me."

"Maybe being broken is normal," Callen spoke with a smirk.

It was nice talking to Anna, she understand him, understood the job that he did and she knew what it was like to have the sort of same past as he did. But she was no Joelle, Callen loved Joelle, not Anna. She was a nice girl, she would be a friend, like Kensi.

After they had heard from the LA office that they had captured Fedor Callen contacted Pavel. He would help them. He gave them the details of the prison move. Callen, Sam and Anna made a plan to intercept the van and rescue Arkady and Sharov.

When it was time to leave they changed clothes and went to a place where they could intercept to van. Anna stopped the van in the middle of the road with a cow that didn't want to move. They had set a trap and the van drove into a covered ditch. Sam moved in and placed a small charge on the back door to open it. Callen moved in as well and Anna grabbed her gun. Anna stood in front of the van keeping her gun on the driver as Callen busted the window and eliminated the driver as Sam dealt with the guard in the back of the van. They quickly took Arkady and Sharov out of the van and moved, seeking cover.

Because Sharov was injured they couldn't proceed with their normal escape plan. They needed to figure out something else.

"I'm gonna call Hetty," Sam spoke as he walked past Callen. "We need a contingency plan."

Sharov was injured, they were taking a break for now. He was sitting on a rock and Callen walked up to him.

"How you doing?"

"It's amazing to finally put a face to your voice."

Callen wasn't going to fall for this so easily. "Pretending to know me isn't gonna make us trust you any more than we already do."

"You know I'm with the company."

"We vetted you. You checked out, but that doesn't mean you're real."

"Callen, my voice doesn't sound familiar to you?"

"Should it?"

"While you were stationed in Russia working Moscow, I manned a few different safe houses over the years."

"Oh yeah?"

"You were in Sevastapol, right?"

"I don't know, was I? Why did I call in?"

"Because she wasn't who she said she was."

"She?"

"Your asset. I don't remember her name. It was a long time ago. I'm sorry. But I do remember they turned their backs on you. Because you were alone, if you didn't find a safe have that night you'd die."

"You directed me to that safe house?"

"Yeah. I take it because of my injury we can't have a safe extract."

"No."

"I have an active code. All I need is a sat phone."

Hetty told Sam that Sharov should be able to find them a safe house if he was really who he said he was. It was Callen's decision. Callen decided to trust Sharov, he was probably their best bet to get out of the country safe and Sharov needed medical attention soon. Sharov told them the location of where they needed to go. They all got in the car they had stashed away there and Sam drove them to the place. They arrived at the place but didn't see anything around there. But these were the coordinates Sharov had gotten for the safe house. They heard a click of a radio outside. They listened to the voice on the radio. Sharov gave his credentials and they were told where they safe house was.

Sam did as the man on the radio told them. Once they were at the point and they all got out of the car and walked. Callen walked in front of the group with Anna behind him and Sam at the back with Arkady and Sharov, with guns ready in case this was a trap. They saw a man on a motorbike pulling up.

Callen looked at this man, there was just something familiar about him. He just couldn't place it for now. They went inside and Garrison attended to Sharov. Callen looked around and noticed a lot of matryoshka dolls standing on the table. As Callen was looking at the dolls he noticed a coin lying on the table, the same coin he had found at Arkady's and Arkady had told him that his father would hand them out in Russia to refugees. Could this man Garrison be his father?

After some new intel had been received they decided to leave now. Garrison had arranged an escape plan for them. They all grabbed a horse and left. After a while they arrived at the place where they were picked up. The others walked off but Callen stayed behind with Garrison.

"Thank you for your help," Callen told Garrison.

"You know who I am?"

"I think so. Maybe, yeah. I don't know."

"I know much about you. And you don't, don't know me. I don't believe in excuses, giving reason for actions. The actions themselves are what matters."

"Well, sometimes."

"You can hate me."

"I don't hate you. But the reasons matter. To me, they matter."

"Then I will tell you." They heard a car approaching. "Another time I will tell it to you all. Everything."

Sam knew the commander who came to rescue them. They loaded Anna, Arkady and Sharov into the car. Sam looked back at Callen, something was definitely going on with his partner.

"Callen, I know who you are and the things you've done. You are good man."

Callen looked at him with tears in his eyes. This really was his father, he had finally found his father.

"Sorry, sir, but we do need to leave right now," one of the men called.

Garrison held out his hand and Callen took it. "Do svidaniya, Grisha."

"Grisha?" Callen looked at him with a weird face.

"Grisha Aleksandrovich Nikolaev. Your mother wanted you to know from where you came."

Callen couldn't believe it. He finally had a name! He finally knew his name! Callen just looked at him and walked off, joining Sam.

"G, you good?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." Callen looked back at Garrison and smiled a bit. "I'm good."

They got in the car and they were brought to an airport. Callen sat down in the chair with a heavy sigh. He had finally met his father and he finally knew what the G stood for. It was Grisha. Finally he had a big piece of the puzzle. Sam wanted to make sure his partner was okay but he had an idea of what had happened so he would just leave Callen in his own thoughts for now.

Once back in LA Callen and Sam went back to the office and walked into Hetty's office. It was around 11pm. Hetty was waiting for them.

"Good job gentlemen," Hetty spoke as Callen and Sam walked in. "You may go home now and I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Callen and Sam packed their stuff and went home. They were both glad to go home. Sam had missed his family and Callen missed Joelle. He wondered if Joelle would be at his place. Since it was already late when they arrived back in LA Callen didn't want to call her in case she was asleep already. Callen drove to his place and noticed Joelle's car standing there. With a smile on his face he walked in. As he walked in he saw that the house was dark. He quietly shot the door, dropped his bag next to the couch and walked to the bedroom. Joelle was sleeping peacefully in the bed, hugging his pillow. Callen smiled at the sight, he was glad that she was still here. He quickly walked to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and used the bathroom. He threw an empty roll of toilet paper in the bin. It was then when he noticed something lying in the bin, something he wasn't expecting.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry for the delay. I had a busy day yesterday so couldn't finish and post it.**

* * *

Callen picked the box up from the bin. He really couldn't believe what he had found. As he picked up the box he noticed that something was inside of it. He opened the box and pulled it out. He looked at it and then at the box again.

"No way," Callen spoke to himself.

He looks once more to make sure he had it right. He had! He was holding a positive pregnancy test! This meant that Joelle was pregnant. Pregnant with their baby? Was that the reason why she came back to him or did she just found out? Was it really his baby? They had only gotten back together, there was no way Joelle could have found out already that she had only gotten pregnant since they had been back together. Callen thought that it was probably too short to already find out since they had only been back together for like a week or so. The last time before that they had made love was New Year's Eve, that was eleven weeks ago. Could Joelle really just have found out she was pregnant after eleven weeks? Callen really didn't know anything about that, it seemed long to him but perhaps it could be or could she have slept with another man? They had only been separated for eleven weeks, in his eyes Joelle wasn't the person to just sleep around with anyone so perhaps she hadn't. If she really hadn't slept with anyone else this was probably his baby. Was he ready to have a baby? Were they ready? Were they ready to have a little baby in their lives? They had only gotten back together, would it be good to have a baby in their lives right now?

A millions things were going through Callen's mind right now. Something inside of him liked that Joelle was probably pregnant with his baby but he was also freaking out. He didn't know the first thing about babies, let alone raising them. He did think about it sometimes while he was with Joelle but he never really saw himself as a father. Would he be any good at it?

Suddenly he felt like someone was watching him. He turned towards the doorway and saw Joelle standing there. Joelle noticed he was holding the pregnancy test. They looked at each other, neither one nothing exactly what to say.

"Glad to have you back G," Joelle spoke after a while.

"It's good to be back but I found a little surprise in the bin."

"Yeah I can see that."

"Is this for real?"

"Yes it is for real and yes it is yours."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes absolutely. I went to the doctor as she said I'm eleven weeks pregnant. It must have happened the last time we slept together before we split up."

"And you only just found out now?"

"Yes I did. I swear I didn't know when I came back to you. I just found out when you were away."

"How can that be?"

"I'm not really feeling sick so far and the last two months I got my period but this month I didn't so I was wondering what was up so I decided to buy a pregnancy test. It was positive so I made an appointment with the doctor. She confirmed it and she said I'm eleven weeks pregnant and that it's possible to still get your period when you're pregnant. But it's absolutely sure that I'm pregnant and I'm absolutely sure it's yours. I didn't sleep with anyone while we were apart. I know we just got back together and we've never really talked about kids….."

Joelle stopped as Callen stepped forward and pulled her close to him. "I know we haven't Jo and I know it might be a bit soon after we've gotten back together and I have no idea how it's gonna be with a baby but I think this is a sign, a sign that we're meant to be together. We can make this work."

"You really think so?"

"Yes. I love you and I know we haven't talked about kids but I would love to have one with you. The timing might be a bit off but that doesn't mean this baby isn't welcome. I do have to admit I'm a little bit scared about becoming a father but we can handle this."

"It's only normal to be scared, I'm scared too but yeah we can handle this. We can be a lovely family."

"Yes we can."

Callen leaned forward and kissed Joelle. He walked her backwards towards the bedroom.

"Wait G, I have to use the toilet," Joelle spoke as she noticed Callen was walking her to the bedroom.

Callen walked to the bedroom as Joelle went to the bathroom. Callen took his clothes off and lay down on the bed. A little later Joelle joined him and Callen kissed her again. He rolled her on her back and lay down on top of her. As he was kissing her Callen took her pajamas off. He kissed down her body and stopped at her stomach. He still couldn't believe that their baby was actually inside of her. Callen peppered her stomach with kisses before Joelle pulled him back up and kissed him again. She turned him around and sat on his lap. She removed the last of their clothing and they made love.

"Wow, that was amazing," Callen uttered once they had finished and lay next to each other on the bed.

"Yeah it really was."

"It is just me or was it better now that your pregnant?"

"Oh no it was better. Everything is way more sensitive."

Callen turned on his side and faced Joelle as she did the same. "I still can't believe you're actually pregnant."

"I know me neither, I was so shocked when I found out and I was afraid of what you would think of it. I didn't know if you wanted it."

"I am surprised and shocked but I think it will be nice. I don't know the first thing about becoming a father, I never really had a role model but I'll do my best and with you, a teacher as the mommy, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"We'll be fine and you'll be amazing. I know it."

"I really hope so."

Joelle gave Callen one more kiss before she snuggled against him. Callen wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He really still couldn't believe he was going to be a father. He really hoped he wouldn't screw it up. He never had a real family. It would be nice to have a family of his own and there was no one who he would love more to do that than Joelle.

Callen couldn't really sleep that night, his mind kept going over the baby, their baby, that Joelle was carrying and to everything that he had learned in Russia. He finally knew his name and his father and then he came home and discovered that Joelle was carrying his baby. It was a lot of information to process at once. Callen had just dozed off a bit when he was woken up by his alarm. He reached over to the nightstand and turned it off.

"Good morning G," Joelle spoke softly as stretched herself in Callen's arms.

"Good morning Jo." Joelle lifted her head up and Callen gave her a kiss. "I didn't imagine it last night right, you really are pregnant?"

"Yes I am," Joelle answered with a smile.

"Okay good. I am happy about it, it's a bit of a shock and an adjustment but I am happy about it."

"Me too. We'll be fine together."

"Yes we will."

Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before he went out. He dressed himself and had some breakfast. Just as he was about to leave Joelle came out of the bedroom, fully dressed. Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before he left.

It was just past 8am when Callen went to work. He went to the gym and changed himself in some sports clothes. He put some gloves on and went to the punching bag.

"What are you mad about?" Sam asked as he walked in a little later.

"Nothing," Callen spoke as he kept punching.

"Well clearly something is up. Everything okay at home? Joelle didn't leave again cus you had to go away for business?"

"No Joelle is still here."

"Than what's up?"

Callen stopped punching. "I had a little surprise last night when I got home, literally little."

"No way," Sam remarked, thinking he knew what Callen was talking about.

"That's exactly what I said when I found out."

"Did she tell you or did you find out?"

"When I got home Joelle was already in bed so I went to use the bathroom before going to bed as well. As I tossed something in the bin I noticed a box of a pregnancy test lying in the bin. I couldn't believe it so I picked it up and noticed the pregnancy test was inside. I pulled it out and it had been used. I checked the box to make sure I was seeing it right. Then I felt someone watching me and I noticed that Joelle was in the doorway. I could tell she wasn't expecting me to find it."

"So she is pregnant with your baby?"

"Yes she is. She told me she's eleven weeks pregnant, it must have happened during New Year's Eve."

"And she didn't know before?"

"No, she said she just found out. I mean is that even possible?"

"It is G, Michelle didn't know with Aiden until she was ten weeks. Her monthly thing was still happening and she wasn't feeling sick. It does happen G. You don't believe her?"

"I do believe her, I could tell she wasn't lying. It just seemed weird to me."

"It does happen G. Well I guess congratulations, or are you not happy about it?"

"Oh no I'm happy about it, it's just a bit shock."

"Yeah I can imagine that. I had that too when Michelle told me. But you'll be fine G. You're gonna be an amazing dad and I'll be there to kick your ass if you're not," Sam spoke with a smile.

"Thanks Sam."

"If you ever need any advice I'll be here for you."

"Thanks. I might take you up on that."

"Don't worry G, you're gonna do great. I'm happy for you and Joelle."

"Thanks yeah we were both shocked but we're happy about it."

"Yeah I can imagine. But hey, you have been together for about two years before you guys split. So you had a little break, you're back together now."

"Yeah I'm very happy about it. I just wasn't expecting this but I love Joelle and she loves me so we'll be okay."

"Yes you will be."

Callen went over to the bikes so Sam could use the punching machines. A little later Kensi and Deeks arrived too and they went to play a game of basketball.

Just past 5pm the agents left. Callen pulled out his phone and called Joelle.

"Hey G," Joelle answered the phone.

"Hey Jo, are you home already?"

"No, not yet, just wrapping some things up at work. I'll leave in about fifteen minutes I think."

"Ah okay, I'm already off. I'll drop by the store to get some dinner for us, okay?"

"Yeah that's fine. I'll see you at home then."

"Yes see you then."

Callen went to Target. As he walked through the store he walked past the baby department. Callen couldn't help but stop there.

"Can I help you sir?" A friendly sales assistant spoke to him.

"Uhm….."

"First kid?"

"Yeah, my girlfriend only told me yesterday she was pregnant. I walked by here and I just couldn't walk past it."

"Ah yes. Are you looking for something?"

"Yeah perhaps."

"Well if you want to buy something already we have a selection of unisex clothes so those would do. They are over here. You can also buy a book or some stuff animals or something. Something like a bodysuit or socks or slippers, that can always work. You can never have too many clothes. Just have a look around and if you have any questions you can always ask me."

"What kind of size do I need to get for a newborn?"

"There's the size newborn, which is nb on the label and 3M, those should work as the first clothes."

"Okay thank you."

Callen walked through the department. He picked out a pack with five bodysuits with frogs on them, all different bodysuits. He also took a footed with pajama with animals on it, a plush bear and a pair of white baby slippers with a bear head on it.

He went to grab some groceries and paid for everything before going home. Just as he pulled up to the house Joelle pulled up too.

"Hey Jo," Callen spoke once they had both gotten out of the car.

"Hey G."

Callen walked over to Joelle and gave her a kiss. "How was your day?"

"It was good. Kids were a little bit busy but it was okay. How was yours?"

"It was quiet. Nothing new so we just caught up and paperwork and old cases."

Callen carried the groceries inside and Joelle helped him put them away.

"Aww G, these are too cute," Joelle exclaimed when she saw the baby stuff Callen had bought.

"Yeah I walked past the baby department and I just couldn't help myself."

"They really are cute G. It's sweet of you." Joelle reached over to Callen and gave him a kiss.

Together they made dinner and they sat down at the dinner table once it was done.

"I told Sam already about the baby, I hope that's alright."

"Yeah that's fine. I told my parents already too."

"That's fine. How did they react?"

"They were surprised but they were very happy."

"That's good. When did you find out?"

"The day after you left and yesterday I had the doctor's appointment."

"And everything was okay?"

"Yes everything was just fine. Oh yeah, I got a picture already." Joelle stood up and went to her purse. She pulled the picture out, returned to the table and handed the picture to Callen. "It's still small but you can see it already."

Callen looked at the ultrasound put he couldn't really find it. "Where is it?" Callen showed the picture to Joelle and she pointed at the picture. "That little thing?"

"Yes, that little thing, that's the baby."

"It's so small."

"Yeah, I'm only eleven weeks so it's still small but the doctor said everything was looking good."

"That's good."

"If you want you can come with me when I have the next appointment."

"I can come with you?"

"Yes you can, I would love it if you would come with me."

"Alright, if I can with work I will definitely come with you."

"Great."

"When is your next appointment?"

"In four weeks, Thursday at 8am."

Callen grabbed his phone and put the appointment in his calendar so he wouldn't forget. After dinner they cleaned up and they sat outside on the porch, it was a beautiful spring day.

"G, can I ask you something?" Joelle asked.

"Of course, what's up?"

"I know you can't really talk about work stuff but I was just wondering what happened when you were away, it just seems like you're a bit different, that something is on your mind and not just the fact that you're becoming a father."

Callen was never really good at sharing. He had told Joelle some things about his personal life but not everything but maybe now was a good a time as any to start sharing with her, they were having a baby however and they were together again now.

"Did something happen while you were away? Something bad?"

"No it wasn't bad." Callen took a deep sigh. "You know I told you I have a bit of Russian background."

"Yeah, your father was Russian."

"Yes he was. I wasn't sure if he was still alive and then last year in May we went to Russia, we had a case there. While there I tried to find out some things, to see if maybe my father was still alive. My boss, looked into the matter and she found out he had changed his name and he lived in Ruza, a small town outside Moscow. We were both pretty sure that that man was my father. I learned that the man he had become had died in two thousand eight, I saw his grave. We had to go to Russia again now and we used a CIA safe house. The man that had the safe house turned out to be my father."

"Your father? So he's still alive?"

"Yeah he is."

"Wow, I guess that must have been a shock."

"Yeah it was. I couldn't believe it, that after all these years I finally met my father."

"Did he say something to you?"

"There wasn't much time to chat, we were busy with the case. But just before we left he told me my name."

"Your name? You finally know where the G stands for?"

"Yes I do. It's Grisha, my name is Grisha Aleksandrovich Nikolaev Callen."

"Grisha, that's a nice name. Is it Russian?"

"Yes it is. It's the Russian form or Gregory."

"Did he say anything else to you?"

"No, not much. He said he would tell it to me another time."

Joelle saw that it was hard for Callen. Joelle stood up and sat down on his lap. "It's okay G. You finally have some of the answers you have been searching for. You know your father and you know your name. That are two big answers. And you're not alone anymore. You have me now. You can tell me anything, I'm here for you."

"Move in with me," Callen spoke out of the blue.


	12. Chapter 12

"What?" Joelle asked, wanting to make sure she had heard correct.

"I want you to move in it with. I love you and I don't want to spend one day without you here and considering we spend all of our time together it's only logical. And since we're having a baby now I don't want to miss anything. So, do you want to move in with me?"

"I'd love to," Joelle answered with a smile.

"Really?" Callen asked with the same smile.

"Yeah really."

Callen pulled Joelle closer and kissed her. "I love you Joelle," Callen whispered as he released her lips.

"I love you too G. I'm really glad we're back together again and have a baby on the way."

"Me too. I've really missed you those eleven weeks that we were apart."

"So have I. I'm really sorry I broke up with you."

"It's okay. You only did what you felt was right. But I'm glad you decided to change your mind, especially since we have a baby coming now."

"Yeah, I didn't think I could handle it but after what happened I think I can. I love you and I just want to be with you, I can deal with your job just along as you always come home to me."

"I will do that Jo, I promise. I want to spend many more years with you and our little baby."

"I want that too. I am gonna worry about you but I know I want to be with you."

"It's only okay you worry about me. It's what you do for people you love."

"And I do love you. You make me really happy and you've given me, us, something wonderful."

"A little baby," Callen spoke with a smile.

"Yeah a little baby."

Callen put his hand on Joelle's stomach. "I still can't believe that there's actually a little baby inside of here."

"I know, I couldn't believe it either when I found out I was pregnant. But there really is, our little baby."

"Yeah, I'm still getting used to the idea that there will be a little baby in a few months and we're responsible for it, but I'm happy about it."

"Am I too. Yeah it is a big change but we can handle it, we can handle it together and you're gonna be a great daddy, I just know it."

"I really hope so. I don't want to let you or our baby down."

"You won't G. I know you never really had a family life of your own but you've come a long way by yourself and you're gonna be good for this kid, make sure he or she gets a loving family and the things you've never had as a kid. You're gonna be great."

"I promise I'll do my best."

"That's good."

"I wonder what it'll be like to have a little baby around the house."

"Oh yes me too. Lot of sleepless nights I imagine."

"I don't mind going out at night. I don't need that much sleep anyway."

"No, that's true. We do have to buy a lot of stuff for the baby."

"Yeah I know, but we still have some time for that and if it's okay with you I would like to paint the nursery. I want to do that for the two of you."

"That's sweet of you G. I think that's a great idea. But do you have time for it with your job?"

"Yeah, I will make time for it and I will start early so it'll be finished on time."

"Okay good."

They sat outside for a while before going inside and going to bed. Callen was already in bed when Joelle joined him. Callen was lying flat on his back and was just looking at his cell phone. He was surprised when Joelle straddled him. Before Callen could say anything Joelle had grabbed the phone from his hand, placed it on it night stand and kissed him.

"Hey you," Joelle spoke once she released his lips.

"Hey yourself," Callen replied as he moved some of Joelle's hair behind her ear. "What are you doing?" Callen asked with a smirk.

Joelle bent down and whispered seductively in his ear. "I want you, I want you so badly."

Just the way she spoke those words drove Callen mad. He quickly turned them around and kissed her passionately. Callen's hands made quick work of her pajamas and panties. He kissed her neck and his hands roamed over her body. After a while he stopped and looked into Joelle's eyes.

"Did you just…..?" Callen asked.

"Yeah, I can't help it. My pregnancy hormones are making me crazy horny. I want you so bad all of the time."

"Oh really?" Callen smirked.

"Yes, so just shut up and do something about it."

"With pleasure."

Callen went back to pleasuring Joelle. What he was doing was just so good. Joelle was loving it. She had come three times already before Callen buried himself inside of her. By the time they were both finished, Joelle had finished three more times.

"Oh… my….. god," Joelle uttered as she lay spend on the bed. "That was amazing."

"Oh yes it was. I can't believe you came so many times."

"I can't help it. It's the hormones."

"So we'll be doing this a lot in the coming months?" Callen asked with a smirk as he rolled onto his side, facing Joelle.

"Yes, if I'm feeling up to it, yes."

"I have absolutely no problem with that," Callen smirked.

"Oh you," Joelle replied and playfully smacked his chest.

Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before they got dressed and went to sleep.

A few hours later Callen woke up when Joelle jumped out of the bed.

"Jo? You okay?"

Joelle didn't respond and ran out of the room. Wondering what was going out Callen got out of the bed as well and went to find Joelle. He found her in the bathroom, puking above the toilet. Callen moved her hair out of her face and held it.

"You okay honey?"

"Yeah, just feeling a bit nauseous."

"I'm sorry Jo."

"It's okay, it's just part of being pregnant."

"Anything I can do?"

"No, it'll pass soon. I think."

Just as Joelle thought it was over she started again. Callen grabbed a cup of water for her and a washcloth. Callen sat down on the floor next to the toilet and when she wasn't puking Joelle sat against him.

"I hate seeing you like this. I feel almost bad for getting you pregnant."

"Don't be G. It's something wonderful, I can deal with some nausea. I just hope it doesn't last the entire pregnancy."

"I'm here for you whenever you need me."

"Thanks G."

They spent the rest of the night in the bathroom. Joelle was feeling really sick. Callen hated seeing her like this. It was just past 6am when they moved back to the bedroom. Joelle was feeling a little bit better.

"Maybe you should stay home today from work," Callen suggested.

"Yeah maybe, I'll see how I'm feeling when it's time to go to work."

"Alright, just try to get some sleep."

They lay down on the bed, spooning, with Callen's arm around Joelle. Callen was pleased to see that Joelle had fallen asleep after a few minutes. He hoped they wouldn't have many more nights like this. He hated seeing Joelle so sick, but it was because of their baby.

Callen had managed to get some sleep too before his alarm went off. Joelle woke up too when his alarm went off.

"Hey honey," Callen spoke and gave Joelle a soft kiss on her cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"A little bit better I guess."

"That's good. Do you want some breakfast?"

"I guess I could eat some crackers or something."

"Alright, you just grab a shower and I'll make you breakfast."

"Thanks G."

Callen got out and got dressed as Joelle went to the bathroom. Callen was just making breakfast when he heard Joelle puking in the bathroom. He went to the bathroom to make sure she was okay.

"Maybe you should stay home today," Callen said.

"Yeah, I think that might be better."

"Do you want me to stay home too?"

"Oh no G, thanks for the offer but that's not necessary."

"Okay. I'd be happy to."

"Thanks G, but I'll be okay."

"Okay." Callen gave Joelle a soft kiss on her head. "Maybe you feel a bit better after your shower."

"Yeah perhaps. I'm gonna call the school first so they can find a replacement for me."

"Okay."

Callen went back to the kitchen as Joelle went to call her school and then went to get a shower. Callen was at the kitchen table went Joelle walked into the kitchen, breakfast standing on the table. As soon as she walked into the kitchen Joelle felt nauseous again. She put the vest she was wearing over her mouth and nose.

"You okay honey?"

"Yeah, just the smell is making me nauseous."

"You do have to eat something."

"I know. I'll just have some crackers."

Joelle grabbed the pack of crackers and started eating some dry crackers. It wasn't much but it was all she could eat right now.

Just past 8.30am Callen left for work.

"You'll be okay today Jo?"

"Yeah I'll be fine. Don't worry. I'll take it easy today."

"Alright." Callen gave Joelle a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before he left.

"Morning," Callen spoke as he walked into the bullpen, only Sam was there.

"Morning G. You look a bit sleepy, even for you."

"Yeah, was up most of the night."

"Everything okay?" Sam asked concerned.

"Yeah, Joelle started feeling sick last night and it lasted almost the entire night."

"That sucks. Michelle had that too with Aiden."

"Yeah, I hate seeing her like that."

"I did too. Just be there for her, there's not really more you can do."

"I know and I did. I stayed up with her last night."

"That's good. Was she feeling any better in the morning?"

"A little but she still called in sick today. She wasn't feeling that well."

"Yeah Michelle had that to a couple of times with Aiden."

"How long did it last with her?"

"Just a few weeks. But some women stay nauseous the entire pregnancy."

"I really hope Joelle isn't one of them."

"How is she doing, other than the nausea?"

"She's doing good. Doctor said everything was okay and I saw the first ultrasound picture. It was really nice to see but the baby is still so small."

"Yeah it's not that big yet at eleven weeks, but yeah it's nice to see it on the ultrasound."

"Ultrasound? What ultrasound?" Kensi asked as she and Deeks walked in. "Is Michelle pregnant again?"

It wasn't Sam's place to tell but he wasn't going to lie to his teammates, not about this. "Nope, not Michelle."

"Then who?" Deeks asked. Sam looked at Callen and Kensi and Deeks followed his gaze. "Why are you looking at Callen? Callen doesn't have a girlfriend."

"I do have a girlfriend," Callen corrected him.

"Who?" Kensi asked. As far as she knew their team leader hadn't gotten a new girlfriend since he had broken up with Joelle.

"Joelle."

"Uhm, you broke up with Joelle," Deeks remarked.

"Yes I did, but we're back together again."

"That's great," Kensi exclaimed. "Is she pregnant?"

"Yes she is, eleven weeks."

"Oh my god. That's great, congratulations. I had no idea that you two were back together, let alone that she was pregnant."

"I didn't either until a few days ago. I found out when Sam and I returned from Russia."

"Is that the reason why you two are back together again?"

"No, it's not. Joelle came back after we had that case with her and she found out she was pregnant when I went to Russia. She said that she didn't know sooner and I believe her."

"Of course. Well I'm happy for you two."

"Thank you Kens."

"Congratulations Mr. Callen," Hetty spoke as she appeared behind the team leader and walked into the bullpen.

"Thank you Hetty. Now up you go, Eric and Nell have business."

The four team members got up and went upstairs.

"What do you have?" Callen asked as they walked into OPS.

"A dead body in Venice," Eric announced. "Surfers found the body on the beach early this morning."

Eric put several pictures on the screen. They saw the body lying on the beach with two holes in his chest, gunshot wounds.

"An ID on this guy?" Callen asked.

"Yes, he is Lieutenant Commander Jesse Larson. He was working as an intelligence analyst, he had top level security clearance."

"Could be they killed him to get access to some files," Sam reasoned.

"They wouldn't probably just kill him, if they wanted access to the files they needed him. Only he can access the files," Nell said. "The type of files he worked with required his login codes and a voice coded message."

"Maybe he was killed somewhere else and this was a body dump," Deeks interjected.

"Meaning they could have gotten the information out of him and threatened him to access the file," Kensi added.

"Did Larson have any next of kin?" Callen asked.

"Yes, a wife and two kids," Eric answered after looking at his tablet.

"Kens, Deeks, you go talk to the family. Sam and I will go to the beach to see what we can find out. Eric, Nell, see what you can dig up about Larson and check if his account was used or if he had any enemies."

"Will do," came the reply from the two techs.

With everyone knowing what to do everyone left. Callen and Sam got in Sam's car and Sam drove them to the beach.

"Hope you're not mad at me for sorta telling Kensi and Deeks that Joelle's pregnant," Sam spoke once they were in the car.

"Oh no, I'm not. I was gonna tell them anyway."

"Okay good."

Sam parked the car near the beach and they walked onto the beach. They showed their badges to get onto the scene.

"You're the surfers who found him?" Callen asked two men.

"Yeah. We were here around 8am this morning. He was lying on the beach already. We didn't see anyone else. As soon as we noticed he was dead we called the police. We never saw anyone here," one of the men answered.

"Alright thank you."

Callen and Sam went to look at an the body to see if they could find any evidence. It seemed like this really was a body dump, there was not that much blood on the sand. Callen and Sam looked around. This was a pretty deserted area of the beach, no cameras in sight so no way to determine who dumped the body. There wasn't much to be found at the scene so Callen and Sam went back to the car. Just as they were getting in the car Callen's phone rang.

"Yeah Hetty," Callen answered the phone.

"Larson's commanding officer will meet you and Sam at the boatshed," Hetty spoke.

"Already Hetty, we're on our way."

Callen hung up the phone. "What's up?" Sam asked his partner.

"Larson's commanding officer is coming to the boatshed."

Sam nodded and drove towards the boatshed. Just after they arrived Larson's commanding officer arrived.

"Agents Callen and Hanna?" Commander Shelton asked.

"Yeah that's us."

"Commander Martin Shelton," he greeted them with a handshake.

"Sorry about your man," Sam told him.

"Thank you. Do you have any idea as to what happened?"

"No, we're still investigating. He was found at the beach this morning but he wasn't killed there," Callen said. "There weren't any cameras at that spot so no idea who dumped him there. Our techs are looking into everything to see what they can come up with."

"Was Larson in any kind of trouble?" Sam asked.

"No, he was a model sailor. Everyone liked him and he got along with everyone."

"Any problems at home?" Callen asked.

"No, not as far as I know. As far as I know he didn't have any problems at home or financial problems or anything."

"Anything special about your cases? Maybe someone chased him down."

"It could be, that's why I wanted to talk to you. Now, you don't have the clearance Larson did but I can give you the names of the people we think could have done this and we would like to be kept in the loop."

"Of course."

"He are the names," Shelton spoke as he handed Callen as flash drive and his card. "Please find out who did this."

"We will sir."

Shelton left and Callen and Sam went back to the office. Callen went upstairs to see how Eric and Nell were doing.

"Anything new?"

"No, nothing stands out so far," Nell informed him.

"Larson's commanding officer gave us a list of names that could maybe have killed him," Callen said as he handed the flash drive to Nell.

"We'll look into it, let you know when we find something."

"Great."

Callen went back downstairs and went outside to Callen Joelle.

"Hey G," Joelle answered the phone after a few rings.

"Hey Jo, how are you doing?"

"Still a bit nauseous, but I'm okay. Breakfast managed to stay in."

"Okay that's good. I just wanted to check in with you."

"That's sweet of you G but I'm okay."

"Okay good. I'll see you later at home. I love you."

"I love you too, yeah I'll see you later. Bye G."

"Bye Jo."

Callen hung up the phone and walked back into the bullpen.

I was about two hours later when Eric and Nell came down the stairs.

"We may have something," Eric announced as the two techs walked into the bullpen. "We searched for Larson to see where he was last. We caught him leaving his house at 5.30am this morning and it seems like he was going for a run, hence him being found in workout clothes. We followed him on the cameras and a little later we found this."

Eric put a video on the screen and the team watched the footage. They saw Larson running and then he was pulled into a van.

"Now, we tracked the van to a warehouse in Culver City," Nell continued. "We don't have the complete view of the warehouse but we did get this."

Nell put another video on the screen. They saw the van pulling up to the warehouse and the men pulled Larson out and took him out of the picture. About an hour and a half later they came back into the picture and it seemed like they were dragging something into the van, they couldn't see clearly what it was but it appeared to be Larson's body.

"We lost the van somewhere after it left the warehouse but it was heading for the direction of the beach where Larson was found."

"Any ID on the men who took him?" Sam asked.

"We got a hit on two of them," Eric announced as he put two ID's on the screen. "Hugo and Luis Torres, both have ties to Mexican cartels and both of these names were on the list that Shelton gave us."

"Any idea where they are now?" Callen asked.

The van went back to the warehouse, it's still there. Not sure if the men are still there too."

"We'll check it out. Good work. Let's gear up guys."

They grabbed their gear and went to the warehouse. Callen and Sam went to the front and Kensi and Deeks went around back.

"Move in on my count. Three, two, one," Callen spoke over the com and they breached.

Rifles at the ready they looked around the warehouse but it was completely empty. There was nothing there.

"Clear," came the call from all four team members.

They lowered their rifles and looked around the place.

"What did they do with Larson here?" Deeks asked. "There's nothing here, no blood either."

The agents didn't know what exactly was going on.

"Callen! Sam! Watch out," Kensi suddenly yelled when she saw Hugo and Luis appear behind the two with their guns raised at them.


	13. Chapter 13

Callen and Sam quickly ducked as Kensi and Deeks raised their weapons. Before Hugo and Luis could get a shot off Kensi and Deeks had already shot them.

"You good?" Kensi asked Callen and Sam.

"Yeah we're good, thanks," Callen replied.

They made their way over to Hugo and Luis. They were both injured but they would make it. After being patched up they were taken to the boatshed. Callen sat in the downstairs interrogation room with Hugo and Sam was in the other interrogation room with Luis.

"What did you do with Larson huh?" Callen asked Luis.

"We just needed some information from him," Luis replied flatly.

"And after you were done with him you killed him."

Luis shrugged his shoulders. "He served his purpose."

Callen looked at Luis, he didn't have any remorse about what he did. "What is it that you needed you? Was he getting to close to figuring out your organization?"

"What does it matter? We just needed some information and then we killed him, end of story."

"It does matter. Cus of what you did two kids are gonna grow up without a father now."

"So what, I grew up without mine."

"Yeah and look at where it brought you. What did you take from Larson? If you talk before Hugo guess who's gonna get the better deal."

"I'm not telling you shit."

"We already have you on the charges. It's better to come clean."

"I'm not telling you another damn thing."

Callen walked out of the room as did Sam.

"Anything from your guy?" Callen asked.

"He confessed to kidnapping and killing Larson but nothing more, he won't say what they used him for."

"Ditto. Luis wouldn't say either what they took. Let's hope the wonder twins can figure out what was taken."

Just as Callen finished that sentence Eric's and Nell's face popped up on screen.

"Hey guys," Nell spoke. "We looked some more into our two guys and into Larson's account. Just after Larson was kidnapped his account was accessed and they downloaded a folder onto a flash drive."

"What was in the folder?" Callen asked.

"Everything they gathered so far on the cartel Luis and Hugo are a part of."

"So they know everything now that the Navy does?"

"It seems that way. They have downloaded it, I don't know if they have send it to their friends in Mexico."

"Alert Larson's commanding officer."

"Already been done Mr. Callen," Hetty said, appearing on the screen. "They are putting a team together as we speak. They are gonna hit them right now."

"Hetty, they could be walking into a trap."

"It's what they do Mr. Callen, they can't risk them being out there any longer, not now they now everything they do. Some agents will be there shortly to pick up our two gentlemen."

"Okay Hetty."

Callen and Sam waited until the other agents were there. Once Luis and Hugo were taken away they went back to the office. All the agents went upstairs to watch the op on the big screen. They all hoped the SEALs would be okay. There was a camera attached to one of the helmets. They watched the SEALs invade the compound. Heavy gunfire was exchanged.

"Tangos are down," the heard a little later.

The bad guys had been eliminated and luckily none of the SEALs got badly hurt. A sigh of relieve was heard around the OPS center. The agents went back downstairs and finished their paperwork before going home.

"Hey honey," Callen called as he walked into the house.

"Hey G," Joelle called back while lying on the couch.

Callen walked up to her and gave her a kiss. "How are you feeling?"

"A little bit better. Throw up some more today but it's getting better."

"Okay. You just lay there and I'll make us some dinner."

"I'm not really hungry G."

"You've gotta eat something. How about I make us some soup?"

"I guess I could eat soup."

"Good." Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before he disappeared into the kitchen.

They sat on the couch to eat dinner. Luckily for Joelle the soup stayed in. They had a relaxing evening on the couch before going to bed.

"Try to get some sleep tonight," Callen told Joelle.

"I'll try, just hope I don't get nauseous again."

"Yeah, if there's anything at all, don't hesitate to wake me up."

"Thanks G."

"No problem, I'm here for you."

Callen gave Joelle a kiss before he gathered her in his arms. Joelle lay her head down on Callen's chest and a little later they both fell asleep.

…

Joelle had another doctor's appointment. Joelle was now fifteen weeks pregnant. They had moved Joelle's stuff into the house already and Joelle's house was up for sale. Luckily Joelle wasn't feeling that nauseous anymore, only sometimes in the mornings. Callen hadn't been called into work yet so he could go with Joelle to the appointment. They sat in the waiting room until they were called in. Joelle changed into a hospital gown and lay down on the bed.

"Why did you change? I thought they would go through the abdomen," Callen said.

"Yes they do but not in the beginning, the baby is too small to see through the abdomen so they go through the vagina."

"Isn't that uncomfortable?"

"It's not really pleasant but it's okay."

A little later the doctor walked in.

"Good morning Joelle."

"Good morning doctor Garcia."

"And you must be the father."

"Yes, Greg, nice to meet you," Callen replied and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you too. Shall we get started? How are you feeling Joelle?"

"I'm good. A little nauseous sometimes and sore breasts but other than that not much."

"That's good. Why don't you lay back so I can examine you."

Joelle lay back on the bed as the doctor got everything ready. She grabbed the wand and put some sort of condom over it before putting it in Joelle's vagina. A little later an image appeared on the screen. Callen watched intensely, trying to see their baby.

"There's the little baby," doctor Garcia spoke as she pointed to the screen.

"That's our little baby," Callen spoke to Joelle.

Joelle could see the love in his eyes. "Yeah that's our little baby," Joelle replied with a smile.

Callen gave Joelle a kiss before turning his eyes back to the screen. He couldn't believe it. There was their little baby, inside Joelle's stomach. You could see some shapes of the little baby already.

"Is everything okay doctor?" Joelle asked.

"Yes, the baby looks fine and everything is right on track. I don't know if I can see it already but would you like to know the sex?"

"Uh… we haven't really talked about it."

"That's okay. I can't see if anyway yet. Let me know if you want to know."

The doctor did some tests on Joelle, including a nuchal translucency to determine if the baby would be suffering from something. She also took her vitals and weight. With a picture from the ultrasound in hand they walked outside. Joelle made a new appointment for three weeks from now before going home.

"It's really beautiful to see the baby like that," Callen admitted.

"Yeah it is. It's crazy to think that it's growing inside of me."

"Yeah it is but also wonderful."

"Yeah it is."

Callen drove Joelle to school.

"Have a good day honey," Callen told her.

"Thanks you too." Joelle gave Callen a kiss. "Be careful."

"I will, I promise. I'll see you tonight."

Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before she got out of the car. Callen drove to work.

"Morning," Callen spoke as he walked into the bullpen, only Sam was there.

"Morning G. How did it go this morning?"

"It was great. It's so nice to see the baby on the screen like that. It's really amazing."

"Yeah it is. Wait till you hear the heartbeat. It's amazing."

"Yeah I can't wait. It's so nice to see it on the screen like," Callen spoke with a smile.

"Yeah, look at you, happy daddy."

"Yeah, I never looked at myself as a daddy but now that it's here and I've had some time to get used to it I love it. I can't wait for the little baby to be here. I just hope I don't screw it up."

"You won't G. You'll be great."

A little later Kensi and Deeks arrived to and not long after that Eric whistled them upstairs.

….

That weekend Callen and Joelle went to Babies 'r' us to buy some baby stuff and stuff for the nursery. They picked out a Dream on me Chloe 5-in-1 convertible crib with changing table attached to it in espresso colored wood. They bought a mattress and changing pad to go with the crib. They bought a South shore beehive armoire in espresso colored wood. The armoire had one door and on the other side were three open selves and two drawers. The door only had shelves but Callen would make a hanging part of it with two shelves underneath. They also bought a Storkcraft hoop glider and ottoman in espresso colored wood with green seat cushions, a RiverRidge kids 6-bin storage cabinet in espresso colored wood with six different colored fabric boxes, a Graco Extend2fit 3-1 convertible car seat in black and grey colors, a baby trend shuttle stroller in green and black colors, a Chicco lullaby baby 3-stage portable play yard in black and green/blue colors, a summer infant pop 'n play ultimate play yard with canopy in blue colors for outside, a sizzlin' cool 39 inch 2 ring pool with canopy and carry bag in blue colors with sea creatures on the top ring, a ingenuity power adapt portable Bingham bunny swing, a comfort & harmony cradling cozy kingdom bouncer, an infantino safari fun twist & fold activity gym, a diaper bag, an infantino black flip carrier, a NoJo jungle babies 9-piece crib bedding set which included two crib sheets, comforter, dust ruffle, diaper stacker, window valance and three wall hangings, a NoJo jungle babies lamp and shade, a NoJo jungle babies musical mobile, NoJo jungle babies plush animal frog and monkey, a NoJo jungle babies wallpaper border, a NoJo jungle babies night light, a NoJo jungle babies crib bumper, a few hangers for in the closet, a koala baby room darkening sage window panel, a fantasy fields sunny safari set of bookends, a summer infant EasyStore comfort tub with sling, some diapers, baby wipes, a few bottles, a koala baby "I love my daddy" white bib with purple edges, a koala baby neutral multicolor safari 3-pack bibs, a pack with two pacifiers one with a giraffe and the other with a tiger, a pack with two yellow pacifiers one with little angel on it and the other with chillin, a baby monitor and a pregnancy sleeping pillow. The furniture and the stroller would be delivered to their house in three to four weeks, the other stuff they could already take with them.

"Wow I had no idea that babies were so expansive," Callen spoke as they walked out to the car.

"Yeah they are pretty pricy."

"It's okay, I have some money saved. I never used much when I was on my own."

"That's good."

Callen loaded everything into the car and they went by another store to pick up some paint. They had decided on light green paint, that would work for both a boy and a girl. Once they had the paint they went back home. Joelle wanted to help Callen load the stuff inside but Callen insisted she wouldn't. Callen put everything in the extension of the living room. Callen changed into some old clothes so he could start painting. They had decided to make Callen's old room, the one he lived in when he was staying with the Rostoff's, the nursery. Callen used to sleep in that room too but now that Joelle was living here they had moved to the master bedroom. Callen cleared out the last few things and put some plastic sheets on the floor. Luckily there was already paint on the wall so he didn't need to pull the wallpaper off of it. Callen grabbed the necessities and put some paint in the box. He grabbed the roller and started painting.

"G, dinner is ready," Joelle called just after 6pm.

"Be right there," Callen called back.

Callen finished the piece and went to wash his hands before joining Joelle at the table.

"How's the painting going?"

"Got two walls done almost done already, just need to do the edges with the paint brush, will see how far I get tonight."

"Thanks for doing this G."

"It's my pleasure. It's the least I can do."

After dinner Callen helped Joelle bring the stuff into the kitchen and stole a quick kiss from her before going back to the bedroom. He finished the two walls with the paint brush and got started on the next wall. He finished this wall completely and he would do the other one tomorrow. He grabbed a quick shower before he joined Joelle on the couch. Together they watched some TV. Joelle sat in between Callen's legs with her back against his chest.

"I really like this place with you here," Callen admitted.

"Me too. I'm glad we're back together again. I really missed you."

"I missed you too and soon there'll be three of us," Callen said as he placed his hand on Joelle's stomach.

"Yeah, I know I'm only fifteen weeks pregnant but I can't wait to meet the little baby."

"Me neither. I'm still a bit scared about becoming a father but I can't wait to meet the little baby."

"Don't worry G, you'll be fine. You're gonna be a great daddy. I just know it."

"I hope so."

Joelle leaned her head back a bit and kissed Callen. "You'll be fine G."

Callen kissed Joelle. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Callen kissed Joelle again, deeper and more passionate this time. Callen reached for the remote and turned the TV off. Callen shifted a bit so he could pick Joelle up, bridal style. Callen stood up with Joelle in his arms as he was kissing her and wanted to walk them to the bedroom.

"Wait G, the light."

Callen walked over to the light switch and Joelle switched it off. Callen kissed her again as he walked them to the bedroom. He gently put Joelle down on the bed and got in the bed with her. Clothes were discarded and thrown across the bedroom. Callen placed kisses down Joelle's body and stopped at her stomach, he could feel a small bump there already. Callen pleasured her for a while before making love. Very content they fell asleep in each other's arms afterwards.

The next day Callen continued with the nursery. Once he finished painting the walls he went to work on the wallpaper border. On the walls that were already dry he put the wallpaper border in the middle of the wall. Once the other wall was dry too he added the wallpaper border too. After doing this he cleaned up the painting stuff and wallpaper stuff and cleaned himself up. He grabbed the curtains and the window valance. He drilled a few holes so he could secure the railing. Once the railing ends had been hung up Callen put the curtains and the window valance on the railing and hung it up. He made sure it was secure. The other decorations for on the wall they had they would hang up once the furniture had been placed. Callen was done just before dinner.

"So, everything is done," Callen spoke as he walked into the kitchen where Joelle was making dinner.

"Great, thank you for doing this G. Can I have a look?"

"Yeah of course."

Callen took Joelle to the nursery. Joelle looked around the nursery. It was just perfect so far. Their baby would be very happy here.

"It's beautiful G."

"Great. One more thing now." Callen took Joelle to the door on the small closet. "When I lived here with the Rostoffs I carved my name into the door. I think it would be nice if you added yours and once the baby is born we can add his or her name."

"I think that's a great idea G," Joelle answered with a smile.

Callen handed Joelle a knife so she could carve her name in it. Joelle carved J. Taylor '16 in the door.

…

Today Joelle had her twenty week appointment.

"Your appointment is at 6pm right?" Callen asked as they were having breakfast.

"Yes it is. You'll be there right?"

"I promise I'll be there."

"It's the twenty week appointment, they'll do some more tests and we'll probably hear the heartbeat and we will find out if it's a boy or girl probably."

They had talked about it and they wanted to know what they were having.

"I know and I'll be there, I promise."

"Okay good."

After breakfast they gathered their stuff to leave for work.

"Have a good day honey," Callen told Joelle and gave her a kiss.

"Thanks you too and be careful."

"I will." Callen bent down and placed a kiss on Joelle's stomach. "Bye my little baby, be good to mommy today. Daddy loves you."

Joelle smiled as Callen talked to her stomach. She loved it when he did that. He was already such a great daddy. Callen got up and gave Joelle one more kiss.

"Bye honey."

"Bye babe."

They both got in their cars and drove to work.

Callen had a busy day today. He really hoped they would be finished with the case by the time he had to leave. He really didn't want to miss this appointment.

It was now almost 5.30pm and they weren't finished yet. They sat in the bullpen waiting for something new from the techs when Callen's phone rang. He saw it was Joelle.

"He Jo," Callen answered the phone.

"Is this Greg Walinsky?" A female voice spoke over the phone.

"Yes this is him," Callen replied wondering what was going on.

"I'm calling from Cedars-Sinai hospital. We have a patient here by the name of Joelle Taylor."


	14. Chapter 14

"I'm calling from Cedars-Sinai hospital. We have a patient here by the name of Joelle Taylor. She asked me to call you."

"What happened?'

"She's still in with the doctor but she wanted me to call you."

"Alright, I'll be right there."

Callen hung up the phone. "Everything okay G?" Sam asked concerned.

"That was the hospital, apparently Joelle's there."

"Is she okay?" Kensi asked.

"I'm not sure, I've gotta go."

"Yeah of course G, we'll cover for you here."

"Thanks."

Callen quickly grabbed his stuff and drove to the hospital. He parked his car and ran into the ER.

"Hi, excuse me, I was called earlier that my girlfriend was in here," Callen spoke to the desk nurse.

"What's her name?"

"Joelle Taylor." The desk nurse looked at the board. "She's in treatment room four which is down there to the left."

"Thank you." Callen walked over to the treatment room and saw Joelle lying on the bed but no doctor anymore in the room. "Hey honey."

"Hey G."

Callen walked up to her and gave her a kiss. "What happened? Are you okay? Is the baby okay?" Callen asked as he rubbed her stomach.

"I was getting my things to go and suddenly I fainted. I felt dizzy and then everything went black. Some of my colleagues must have seen it cus when I came to the paramedics were there."

"Did the doctor already check you out? Are you both okay?"

"She did an ultrasound and the baby is just fine." Callen let out a relieved sigh. "She took my vitals and noticed that my blood pressure was a bit low. She took some blood to run some tests on and she would be back later."

"Okay, but you're both okay?"

"Yeah, we're both okay."

"Okay good." Callen sat down next to Joelle on the bed and wrapped his arms around her. "You scared me. When I got that phone call saying you were in the hospital I got so scared. I worried that something had happened to either one of you."

"We're both fine G. It's probably my low blood pressure that caused me to faint. I feel better already."

"That's good."

"I'm sorry if I pulled you away from a case."

"It's no problem Jo, you're more important. Here is where I need to be right now to make sure you two are both okay."

"We're both fine G, I promise."

A little later the doctor returned.

"Well, there's nothing alarming in your test results other than the low blood pressure. Doctor Garcia would like to see you upstairs. She had a delivery earlier but she would like to examine and observe you upstairs."

"Alright, thank you doctor."

A few nurses took Joelle upstairs in the bed and Callen grabbed Joelle's stuff and followed them. She was brought to a room on the OB floor. Once in the room she had to switch beds, the nurses wanted to help her but Joelle could do it herself. Once Joelle was situated the nurses left and a little later Doctor Garcia walked in.

"Hello Joelle, my colleague filled me in on what happened. How are you feeling now?"

"Still a bit weak but it's getting better. What could have caused this doctor?"

"Sometimes pregnant women experience high or low blood pressure during the pregnancy, there's not always a definitive cause. All of your test results came back negative so there's nothing to worry about. I would like to keep you here a little longer just until your blood pressure is stable again."

"That's fine doctor."

"I know the doctor downstairs examined you already but I'm just gonna check too if that's okay."

"Yeah it's fine."

The doctor took Joelle's vitals before pulling the ultrasound machine closer. She put some gel on the wand and put it on Joelle's stomach. The doctor moved it around a bit so she could look.

"Everything looks very well here, the baby is very healthy." Both Callen and Joelle were pleased to hear that. "Would you like to hear the heartbeat?"

"Yeah please."

The doctor turned on the sound and Callen and Joelle heard the baby's heartbeat. It was a beautiful sound.

"It's so fast," Callen remarked.

"It's perfectly normal."

Callen turned to Joelle. "Listen to that honey, it's our baby's heartbeat."

"Yeah it is," Joelle replied with a smile. "It's amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah it really is. It sounds perfect."

"Would you two like to know what you're having?" The doctor asked.

"Yes, we discussed it and we want to know what we're having," Joelle answered.

"Alright, let me just have a look." The doctor looked at the screen as she moved the wand. "Well, you are having a little boy."

Callen looked at Joelle. They were having a little boy, he would have a son in a few months. "A little boy," Callen spoke with a smile.

"Yeah, a little baby boy. He will be just as cute as his daddy, I just know it."

"Is he doing alright doctor?" Callen asked.

"He's doing just fine, there's nothing to worry about. Would you like to see a 3D image?"

"Yes please," Joelle replied.

The doctor pressed a few keys and the screen changed into 3D. They saw their little boy inside of Joelle. It was so amazing to see it like this. You could see some shapes already, see the little arms and legs. It was so freaking cute to see.

"Look at that," Callen spoke to Joelle as he looked at her.

Joelle could see the love in his eyes. He would be an amazing daddy, she just knew it. "Yeah it's amazing."

"He's so beautiful already."

"Yeah he is," Joelle replied with a smile.

"Everything is looking very fine, there's nothing to worry about," the doctor spoke as she removed the wand from Joelle's stomach. "The little boy is doing very well. We'll keep you here for a while to monitor your blood pressure but there's nothing to worry about."

"Thank you doctor, I was so scared something was wrong."

"That's understandable but you have nothing to worry about. I promise you."

The doctor cleaned Joelle's stomach up before leaving the room. Callen sad down next to Joelle on the bed and wrapped his arm around her as Joelle lay her head down on Callen's shoulder.

"Thank you for coming G."

"Of course honey. I'm just glad you two are both okay. I got so worried when I received that call."

"Yeah I worried too when I came to and saw the paramedics there. I'm glad everything's okay."

Callen gave Joelle a soft kiss on her head and placed his hand on Joelle stomach and Joelle placed her hand on top of it.

"There's a little boy inside of here," Callen spoke.

"Yeah there is, a little Grisha Callen. It's will be so cute to see you two together, daddy's little boy."

"Yeah and mommy's little boy too. You just rest up a bit Jo, I'll be here."

They sat like this for a while until Callen's phone started to ring. Callen saw it was Sam.

"Hey Sam," Callen answered the phone.

"Hey G, how's Joelle?"

"She's just fine and so is the baby. She had low blood pressure, doctor said that was the reason for her fainting. They are just keeping her here a little longer to make sure her blood pressure is stable again but she and the baby are doing just fine."

"That's good to hear."

"How's the case?"

"We just finished it. Nell and Eric were able to find them and we arrested them all."

"That's good."

"Anyway, I just wanted to check in on how Joelle was doing."

"Thanks Sam, but everything I just fine here. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah see you G."

Callen hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. "Just Sam wanting to know how you were. I was with him when I got the call so he was worried about you too."

"That's sweet of him. You two are really like brothers."

"Yeah, Sam, his family and the others of my team, they are all like family. Sam's always been there for me ever since we became partners. I've spent a lot of nights at Sam's place before I got my own place. Kamran and Aiden even call me Uncle Callen."

"That's sweet. So he and Michelle will be like an aunt and uncle for our baby too?"

"Yes they will be along with the others of my team. They are my family and you and the baby will be too. I will have my own little family."

"Yes you will and you'll be great."

Callen lifted Joelle's face up to him and kissed her. "I love you Jo."

"I love you too G."

"Thank you for coming back to me and giving me something wonderful. I never thought I would become a daddy but now I will be. I'm still a bit scared but I love it. Seeing the baby on the screen like that is so cute. I can't wait for him to be here."

"I can't wait either and don't worry, you'll do great. You're already a great daddy and he's not even here yet. You are so sweet to me."

"Well it's the least I can do, you're the one carrying him around for nine months. I'm here for you no matter what."

"Thanks G."

Callen looked at his watch. It was already 7.30pm. "How about I go get us something to eat? I think you can eat something right?"

"Yeah I think so too."

"I'll just ask the nurse to be sure and I will get us something from the cafeteria."

"Thanks G."

Callen gave Joelle another kiss. "I'll be right back."

Callen walked out of the room and asked the desk nurse if Joelle could eat already. She could eat already so Callen went downstairs to get something from the cafeteria. He returned to the room a little later with two plates of pasta and some orange juices. Callen put the tray on the bedside table and put it over the bed. He sat next to Joelle and the two had dinner. Once they were done Callen went to return the tray to the cafeteria.

Around 9pm the doctor came to check on Joelle again.

"Well, your blood pressure has stabilized again but I would just like to keep you here overnight, just to make sure. It's nothing alarming it's just standard protocol."

"Sure doctor, that's fine. Can Greg stay with me tonight?"

"Sorry, no visitors can stay overnight."

"Okay. I understand."

"There's absolutely nothing to worry about. You and the little boy are doing just fine, it's just standard protocol. I wanna make sure you're blood pressure doesn't drop again."

"That's alright doctor."

"The visiting hours are already over so I'm sorry Mr. Walinsky but I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

"That's already. I'll just say goodbye and then I'll be gone."

"That's fine. I'll be back in the morning to check on you Joelle."

"That's fine doctor."

The doctor left.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow. I'll come by here before I go to work."

"That's fine G."

"Just to try to get some sleep okay and if there's anything, anything at all, you can always call me."

"I know G but I'll be fine. But I am gonna miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you too, but it's just for one night. I'm just glad you two are doing fine."

"We'll be fine G."

Callen gave Joelle a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Callen moved down to Joelle's stomach and gave it a kiss too. "Bye my little baby, be good to mommy. Let mommy get some sleep tonight. Daddy loves you. Bye honey." Callen gave Joelle one more kiss.

"Bye honey."

Callen really didn't want to leave Joelle here, he wished he could have stayed in the hospital. It was just for one night, he would see her again tomorrow. He was just happy that both Joelle and their baby were doing fine.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Call me if you need me."

"I will but I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

Callen gave Joelle another kiss before he left. When Callen got home he grabbed himself a beer and sat down on the couch to watch some TV before going to bed. He couldn't really sleep that night. So much was going through his mind. He was so worried when he had gotten the call from the hospital. He was beyond relieved that Joelle and their baby were doing fine. And they were having a little boy, Callen was getting a son. He couldn't wait to meet the little guy. He really hoped he wouldn't screw it up. Something that Sam had said to him popped up in his mind.

'Little lowercase g's running around.'

Yeah in a few months he would have a little lowercase g, as Sam had put it. It would be a big change in his and Joelle's life but he loved it. He loved the little guy already. It was so weird to love someone already who wasn't even here yet. He loved seeing the little baby on the screen and today they had heard the heartbeat and saw him in 3D. It was really amazing to see.

Callen managed to get some sleep before his alarm clock went off. He took a shower and had some breakfast before going to the hospital. Callen walked in quietly in case Joelle was still asleep.

"Hey G," Joelle spoke as she saw Callen peek his head around the door.

"Hey Jo," Callen replied as he walked into the room. He walked up to Joelle and gave her a kiss. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine. Managed to get some sleep last night."

"That's good. And our little boy?" Callen asked as he rubbed his hand over Joelle's stomach.

"Our little boy is doing just fine."

"I'm glad to hear. You can go home today?"

"Yeah I think so. Doctor hasn't been by yet but yeah I think I can go home."

"Alright, that's good. Let me know if you need a ride home."

"I will. Did you get some sleep?"

"Yeah a little. I missed you next to me."

"I missed you too. I wanted to cuddle up to you."

"You can do that again tonight," Callen replied with a smile. "I've gotta go to work."

"Sure that's fine, thanks for stopping by."

"My pleasure. Let me know when you can go home."

"I will."

Callen gave Joelle a kiss and then kissed her stomach. "Bye little guy, daddy will miss you. Take care of mommy." Callen gave Joelle one more kiss. "Bye honey."

"Bye babe."

Callen gave Joelle another kiss before leaving. When he arrived at work the others were already in the bullpen.

"Morning," Callen spoke.

"Morning," came the reply from the other agents.

"How's Joelle doing?" Sam asked.

"She's good. She had to stay overnight but that was just standard protocol. Her blood pressure has stabilized again. She can probably go home today. She and the baby are both doing fine."

"That's good to hear. Do they know what caused it?"

"They did some tests on her but they all came back clear so there was nothing alarming going on. The doctor said that it sometimes happens with pregnant women and that we didn't have anything to worry about. Both Joelle and the baby were doing very well."

"That's good."

A little later Eric whistled them up.

"What do we have?" Callen asked as they walked into OPS.

"This morning this happened at a bank," Eric spoke as he put a video up on the scream.

The team saw a few mask men making their way into the building. The video switched over into a camera on the inside. They shot into the ceiling and rounded up the people before shooting out the cameras.

"Why is this a case for us?" Callen questioned.

"Because Mr. Callen," Hetty spoke as she walked into the OPS center. "That bank is used as a federal reserve. A lot of money from different agencies including ours are stored there."

"And you want us to make sure it doesn't end up in their hands."

"Exactly Mr. Callen."

"Eric, Nell, find out everything you can about these men, see why they targeted this bank."

"Will do," came the reply from the techs.

"Let's go guys, we'll see what we can find out on the scene."

The four agents left and went to the bank. LAPD was already on scene. The team showed their badges to get onto the scene, they were already geared up, and they went up to the truck.

"Agent Callen, NCIS," Callen spoke to the Lieutenant as he showed his badge. "Anything from inside the bank?"

"No nothing yet. We've tried calling them but they are not picking up the phone. We haven't spotted any movement whatsoever but according to the snipers we have up there with thermal imaging they are still inside. The hostages are on the floor and the men are walking around them."

"Our techs are looking into the men, to see if they can find out who they are. This bank stores cash and stuff for several agencies including NCIS. It could be that they are after that or it's just a coincidence."

"We will wait a few more minutes, if there's no contact from inside we will breach. We'll give you the heads up when we're breaching."

"Thanks."

Callen walked back over to the others and told them what he had learned so far.

"Kens, go find a spot for your sniper rifle," Callen told Kensi.

"Will do."

Kensi grabbed her sniper rifle from the trunk and went to find a spot.

"In position," Kensi spoke a little later.

"What do you see Kens?"

There was a small window at the back where Kensi had set up. She had her eyes on the group of hostage.

"I count about fifteen hostages and four masked men. They still have their masks on, I can't see their faces. They are just walking around the hostages with their guns but they seem calm. None of the hostages seem injured."

"What's their play? And why are they not picking up the phone?" Sam wondered. "If they had demands they would pick up the phone and they must know that by now the authorities are outside. Why take hostages? If their plan was to steal money or something they would be in and out, so why stay inside with hostages. It's very unlikely they'll get away like this."

"We did it too with Dallas," Callen said.

"Yeah through an underground tunnel. It's possible but they are still inside. If they had a tunnel they would've probably escaped by now."

"Callen, we may have found something," Nell's voice was heard over the coms.

"Go ahead Nell."

"When they pulled up to the bank they were already wearing their masks. We scrolled back to see where they came from and we managed to get an ID on one of the guys. His name is Kyle Mason. All his info is on your phone. He was a former marine."

"What do you mean former?" Sam questioned.

"He was dishonorable discharged earlier this year."

"And now he's robbing banks with this crew?" Callen wondered.

"According to the records Mason hasn't had a steady job since he was kicked out of the marines. He has two kids to support so he could be in it for the money. He has to pay alimony, his wife filed for a divorce just after he got kicked out."

"Why was he discharged?" Sam wanted to know.

"He was caught drunk on duty and it was already the third time so they had to let him go," Nell informed them.

"Any idea on who he's hanging with?"

"No not a clue, yet."

"Alright, keep looking."

"Will do."

"How does a former marine get involved with these people?" Deeks wondered.

"Like Nell said, he could be in it for the money. Cus of his drinking he was kicked out of the marines and I bet his wife wasn't too happy about that."

Suddenly they heard a gunshot coming from inside.


	15. Chapter 15

Everyone went down to seek cover.

"Shots fired! Shots fired!" Someone called.

"Hold your positions," Callen called. "You see anything Kens?"

"There's some panic but I can't see exactly what happened."

"What do you wanna do G?"

"Kens, do you see a backdoor entry?"

"There's an emergency exit but it looks like you can't open it from the outside."

"Eric, can you access the bank system?"

"Let me try." Eric typed a few keys on his keyboard. "Yeah I'm in."

"Can you open the back door?"

"Yeah I should be able to."

"Alright, open it on my count."

"Got it."

"We're going around back. We're gonna end this," Callen spoke to Sam and Deeks.

Callen walked over to the lieutenant. "We're gonna breach from the back. Draw their attention to the front."

"Copy that."

Callen, Sam and Deeks went to the backdoor and took their positions.

"Eric, blueprints of the bank. How many entryways are there to the main room?"

"There are three doors. You come into a hallway and it goes all the way around the main room."

"Alright, thanks Eric. Kens?"

"You're good Callen, I've got your backs."

"Great. Eric, open the door on my count. Three, two, one."

Eric opened the door and the three agents breached. They came into a hallway where the back offices were. With their SIGs drawn they walked in. There was no one here. Callen stopped at the first door, Sam at the second and Deeks at the last.

"Kensi, where are the men?" Callen asked.

"They are all at the front."

"Alright, Sam, Deeks, you ready?"

"We're in position," Sam spoke.

"Ready," Deeks added.

"Move on my count, three, two, one."

The agents opened the doors and stepped into the main room. The men look back at them and were ready to shoot but the three agents were faster and shot them.

"We're clear," Callen spoke after a while.

"Eric we need an ambulance," Deeks spoke. "One of the hostages was shot."

Sam cleared the men of their guns as Callen went out the door. He carefully opened the door and stuck his hands out to the door.

"Don't shoot, we've taken them down," Callen spoke as he slowly walked out.

"Weapons down," the lieutenant spoke to his men.

All the men except for Mason where dead. The paramedics arrived at the scene and patched the people up. The hostage that had been shot and Mason were taken to the hospital. Callen and Sam went to the hospital too so they could question Mason once he was stable. Kensi and Deeks stayed behind at the scene to make sure everything was still accounted for.

Callen and Sam waited until the doctor was finished with Mason. Once he was done Callen and Sam went into the room.

"Agents Callen and Hanna, NCIS," Callen spoke as they showed their badges.

"Why did you do it huh?" Sam asked, slightly annoyed.

"I needed the money. My ex-wife shut me out of the accounts and I needed to pay alimony."

"It's your own fault you got kicked out of the marines."

"I know. I was having some troubles in my marriage and I grabbed some booze. Try getting a job as a discharged sailor."

"There are support groups and programs that can help you."

"I know but I thought I could do it on my own then I came across this crew. They were looking for a new person and I figured it would be an easy payday. What's gonna happen now?"

"You will go to jail. Maybe once you get out you can get your act together."

"Were those men in the bank the only ones of the crew?" Callen asked.

"Yes that was everyone. Where are they?"

"They are all dead. Where you the one who shot the hostage?"

"No that was the leader, Ray. He was the one who shot her."

Callen and Sam looked at him. They could see he was telling the truth. An LAPD officer was keeping watch outside and once he was stable enough they would transport him to jail. Callen and Sam went back to the office. Kensi and Deeks were already there when they arrived.

"Anything missing from the bank?" Callen asked.

"No everything's accounted for."

"That's good."

The team finished their paperwork before going home.

When Callen got home Joelle was home already. She had let him know earlier today that she could go home but that she didn't need to be picked up. Her sister was picking her up.

"Hey Jo," Callen called as he walked into the house.

"Hey G," Joelle replied from the couch.

Callen dropped his bag by the door and sat down on the couch next to Joelle. "Hey babe." Callen gave Joelle a kiss. "How are you?"

"I'm doing fine, just a little bit tired. My blood pressure was back to normal again."

"Did the doctor say if this could happen again?"

"It could happen again yes but she told me some things I can do if I would start to feel faint or dizzy. She also said that there was nothing to worry about."

"Okay that's good." Callen bent down and placed a kiss on Joelle's stomach. "Daddy is glad you and mommy are okay. You and mommy gave me quite a scare."

"Yeah me too."

Callen gave Joelle another kiss.

"I guess I should get started on dinner," Joelle spoke.

"Let me do it," Callen insisted. "You just sit here and relax."

Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before he got up and went to the kitchen. He looked in the fridge what they still had. He decided on some pork with lettuce and baked potatoes. Once dinner was ready they sat at the table outside.

"You do have some time off in the summer right?" Joelle asked.

"Yes I do. Three weeks in July."

"I was thinking about going somewhere on vacation if that's okay with you."

"Are you still able to do that?"

"Yes I can, just nothing by plane. But I thought it would be nice to just get out."

"Yeah that would be nice. How about you pick out something nice? You're better at that than me."

"Yeah sure that's fine. When do your holidays start?"

"July sixteenth."

"Alright, I'll go find us something."

"That's fine. I also have a long weekend with Memorial day, maybe we can go somewhere for the weekend."

"Yeah sure that's fine. I'd like that. I have Memorial day off too."

"Great."

"I'll look tonight if something is still available."

"That's fine."

After dinner Callen and Joelle cleaned up. Callen went to work on the nursery as Joelle went to look for vacations. The furniture had already been delivered but Callen didn't have much time yet to work on the nursery. He first went to work on putting the crib together. He pulled everything out of the box and looked at the manual. He managed to put it together pretty quickly. He made sure it was secure before putting it in its spot. He already put the matrass with cover in the crib and also put the dust ruffle, crib bumper and comforter in it. He put the changing pad on the changing table and put some of the stuff already on the shelves underneath it. Next he went to put the closet together. He put the selves and drawers in and made some holes so he could hang up the pole in the closet. After that he went to put the storage cabinet together and put the colored boxes inside. Callen put the hoop glider with ottoman in the right corner of the room near the window. Callen put the table lamp on the storage cabinet, put the musical mobile on the crib, put the plush animals in the crib and put the clothes they already had in the closet.

"Hey Jo, can you come here for a sec?" Callen called into the living room.

"What's up G?" Joelle asked as she walked into the room. She stopped as she saw the furniture in the room. "Oh G. It's perfect."

"Yeah, you like it? Or do you want the furniture in a different place?"

Joelle looked around the room. The storage cabinet stood immediately left of the door, the crib and changing table against the left wall. The closet stood against the right wall with the hoop glider behind it.

"It's perfect G. Our little boy will be very happy here." Joelle walked up to Callen and wrapped her arms around his neck and Callen wrapped his arms around Joelle's waist. "Thank you for doing this G. It's just perfect. I love it."

"It's my pleasure. I'm happy to do it. Just need to hang up some decorations and a new ceiling lamp."

"It's just perfect G. Thank you."

Joelle pulled Callen closer and gave him a kiss. Callen cleaned up his tools and joined Joelle on the couch and they look through the vacations Joelle had found already.

That Saturday they went to the store to buy some more things for the baby. They went to Walmart this time. They bought a ceiling fixtures ceiling light flush mount in blue with airplanes dangling around it, a jungle quilt canvas wall art, a pack with six newborn baby boy bootie socks in differently color with animals on it, a pack with two footed pajamas one with green edges and light green, light blue, and white stripes on it and a dinosaur and one with blue edges and different animals on it, a pack with three baby boy dinosaur caps, a three piece set of Mickey Mouse with a footed pajama, a body suit and a bib, a pair of baby boy jeans, a pack with two socks one blue with a turtle on it and one green with a bear on it, a blue bib with some turtles and I love mommy and a white bib with turtles on it, a knit terry pack with ten bibs, a Mickey Mouse pacifier, a pack with three take n' shake take-along toys, a monkey teeter, brown baby boy sneakers with a car on it and safety gates. After they had gotten the baby things they went to get groceries. Callen carried the groceries, ceiling light, safety gates and canvas wall art inside as Joelle got the other baby stuff. Joelle put the baby stuff away as Callen put the groceries away. Once was put away Callen went to hang up the wall decorations. Callen and Joelle looked where the things needed to come. Callen made the marks on the wall and then put the nails in it and hung the things up. Callen looked around the nursery once he was done. It was just perfect. Their baby would be very happy here. Callen still couldn't quite believe it that in a few months there would be a baby here. He was still scared as to what it would be like but not so much anymore. He liked going to the appointments with Joelle and see their little baby on screen. It was so beautiful to see the baby like that and hear the heartbeat. Callen couldn't wait to meet the little guy.

…

It was now Memorial day weekend. Joelle was now twenty-one weeks pregnant. They had booked a long weekend in a private vacation home in Palm Springs. Callen and Joelle still had to work on Friday's.

Callen sat at his desk just finishing his paperwork. Just past 5pm he was done and packed up his stuff. Kensi and Deeks had already left.

"Well I'm off, have a nice memorial day weekend," Callen spoke as he grabbed his bag.

"Thanks you too G," Sam replied. "Doing anything special?"

"Yeah Joelle and I are going to Palm Springs."

"That's nice. Enjoy."

"Thanks, you too. See you on Tuesday."

"Yeah see you."

Callen got in his car and went home. Joelle was already home when he arrived.

"Hey Jo," Callen called as he walked into the house.

"Hey G, I'm in the bedroom."

Callen walked to the bedroom where Joelle was just packing up the last things.

"Hey babe," Callen spoke and gave Joelle a kiss.

"Hey honey."

"You ready?"

"Yeah just about."

Callen packed up his last few things and loaded the things in the car. Callen locked up and they got in the car. Callen drove towards the 10-freeway. He followed this road until they got to Palm Springs. He took the exit towards the 111 road and took a left towards West Racquet Club Road. He then took a right onto North Via Miraleste and then a left onto East Spencer Drive. Their house was on this street. The owner was waiting for them there. It was about a two hour and fifteen minute drive with traffic. Callen parked the car in the driveway before they got out.

"Hello," Callen greeted the owner who was waiting outside.

"Hi, you must be Greg Walinsky."

"Yes that's me. This is my girlfriend Joelle."

"Yes, we spoke on the phone." They all shook hands. "How was your drive?"

"Some traffic but it was okay."

"That's good. Well here are the keys. I'll be back to pick them up Monday evening around 8pm. There's a map of the neighborhood and the rules on the kitchen counter. Enjoy the weekend."

"Thank you. You too."

Callen grabbed the things and they went inside. The came into a small hallway with a half high wall on the right. Behind this wall was the kitchen. To the left of the kitchen was a dining area and behind that the sitting area. In the sitting area stood a grey couch with attached ottoman, a glass coffee table, a white low dresser with hanging TV above and two chairs next to it, standing lamps next to the couch, a chair on the left of the couch, a rug and some wall art. The dining area had a white table with two chairs. The kitchen had a kitchen island with two bar chairs, coffee maker, dishwasher, ice maker, microwave, refrigerator, stove and toaster. The kitchen was 'L' shaped with the refrigerator on the left and the stove along the half high wall. At the back of the house they had full length windows with a sliding door in the kitchen, and a sliding door on the side of the house in the living area. Through the doors in the living area they came into a covert outside dining area with wooden table and chairs and a ceiling fan light. Behind the house was a swimming pool with a diving board and whirlpool. The rest of the yard was covered with grass. From their backyard they had a beautiful view of the mountains. Behind the living area was the master bedroom with sliding doors leading to the back yard as well, which were on the side just behind the covert dining area. The bedroom had a queen sized bed, two nightstands with table lamps, two floor lamps, a desk with chair and a TV. The master bathroom was adjoining. It had a toilet, vanity and tub/shower and also an outdoor shower. There were two more bedrooms in the house. They were right next to the front door. The house had air conditioning, a clothes dryer, hair dryer, washing machine, internet and cable TV, heating, bed linens and towels.

"It looks beautiful," Joelle stated.

"Yeah it does. It's a nice get-a-way."

"Yes it is."

They freshened up a bit and went to eat at Rick's Desert grill. It was close by but they went by car. It was a nice cozy restaurant. Callen had quesadillas with chicken as starter while Joelle had the fried vegetable ravioli. As main course Callen took a T-bone steak and Joelle ordered penne pasta. After dinner they went back to their house. they enjoyed the rest of the night on the couch before going to bed. As Joelle was getting changed for bed Callen walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"I love you Joelle."

"I love you too Grisha."

Callen had his hands on Joelle's stomach and smiled when he felt something move underneath his hands.

"Did you feel that?" Callen asked.

"Yeah it's the baby, he's moving."

"Doesn't it feel weird to have him moving inside of you?"

"It is weird to think that he's growing inside of me but it's also wonderful."

"That it is."

Callen nuzzled his face in Joelle's neck and kissed it. Joelle was already starting to feel like jelly in Callen's arms. Callen picked her up and gently lay her down on the bed. Callen lay down next to her and kissed her. Since Joelle was getting ready for bed she didn't have much clothes on anymore, just her underwear. All kissing Callen removed her underwear and his boxers. As Callen was kissing her he started pleasuring Joelle. With her pregnancy hormones it didn't take her long to finish. Joelle turned on her side and Callen lay behind her. Since she had started showing they mostly made love like this since it was easiest. Callen had his hand on Joelle's stomach and her hand was on top of his as they made love. After a little while they changed positions. Joelle lay on the edge of the bed with Callen standing next to the bed. They had to get a little creative ever now and then since the 'normal' position wasn't comfortable anymore. Joelle couldn't get enough of Callen, they made love as much as they could since Joelle was feeling horny most of the time. The did also doggy style with a pillow underneath Joelle's stomach and with Joelle on top with Callen helping her. Exhausted they lay on the bed next to each other.

"I really like this side of you," Callen spoke with a smirk.

"Just cus you're getting laid."

"Well that too but I like making love to you."

"I like that too and I can't help it. I want you all of the time."

"I'm happy to help," Callen replied with a smirk.

Joelle smiled back and gave Callen a kiss. They dressed themselves for bed and got in again. Joelle had taken her pregnancy pillow with her. She lay curled up to it and Callen lay behind her with his arm around her.

"Goodnight honey," Callen spoke and gave Joelle a kiss.

"Goodnight honey."

"And goodnight my little baby," Callen said and gave Joelle's stomach a kiss too.

They slept in the next day and woke up around 9am.

"Good morning Jo," Callen spoke once he noticed Joelle was awake too.

"Good morning G," Joelle replied and gave Callen a kiss.

"Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah I slept fine. You?"

"Slept fine too. You stay here a little later and I'll go make us some breakfast."

Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before he got out. He got dressed and went to make some breakfast. They had taken some groceries from home already. Just as breakfast was done Joelle came out of the bedroom, fully dressed. After breakfast they changed into their swimsuits. Joelle wore a blue/purple crochet tankini with black shorts. Callen wore a pair of blue and white plaid swim shorts. They rubbed themselves with some sunscreen and lay down on the deck chairs they had brought since they didn't come with the house. Once her food had gone down Joelle got in the pool and Callen joined her a little later. The just relaxed around the house. In the afternoon Callen went to buy some groceries since they had only taken stuff for the first day and morning. Joelle stayed at the house just relaxing on the deck chair or in the pool.

It was about an hour and a half since Callen had gone to get groceries and he still wasn't back. Joelle wondered where he was since the store wasn't that far from their house.


	16. Chapter 16

Just as she was about to pull her phone out to Callen she heard the front door open.

"Hey honey," Joelle heard Callen's voice.

Callen put the bag on the kitchen counter and walked outside.

"Hey Jo," Callen spoke as he walked outside.

"Hey G, I was just about to call you. I was wondering where you were."

Callen gave Joelle kiss. "Oh yeah sorry, I had to get some gas for the car and I thought I could find the way back without navigation but I got lost," Callen lied.

"Ah okay."

Joelle seemed to buy his story. Callen went back inside and cleaned up the groceries. He changed into his swim shorts and joined Joelle outside.

"What did you buy for dinner?" Joelle asked around 5pm.

"It's a surprise. I'm gonna cook us a nice dinner."

"Really? That's sweet of you."

"Yeah so you don't worry about dinner at all. I should get started. How about you take a nice bubble bath."

"Hmmm, that's sounds nice."

Callen and Joelle both got up. Callen gave Joelle a quick kiss before she walked to the bathroom. Callen got started in the kitchen.

About forty-five minutes later Joelle came back into the main room. Callen look at her. She looked so beautiful in the dress Callen had picked out for her. Joelle was wearing a dark blue/purple dress with short sleeves. It had a sash just above her stomach and the dress had a layer of lace over it with roses on it.

"You look beautiful," Callen told her.

"Thank you and thank you for the dress. It's beautiful."

"I'm glad you like it. Dinner is almost done. Come on let's go sit outside."

Callen took Joelle outside to the covered seating area. There were some candles on the table and Callen had hung a string of lights underneath the roof.

"It looks beautiful G. What's the occasion of this?"

"Just something nice I wanted to do for you cus I love you."

"That's very sweet G." Joelle gave him a kiss. "I love you too."

Callen sat Joelle down on her chair and poured them both a glass of non-alcohol bubbly. Callen sat down himself as well.

"Here's to us," Callen spoke as he raised his glass.

"To us and our little baby boy."

"Yes to him too."

They toasted. Callen got up a little later to get dinner. He had made them some vegetable soup as starter, pork with seasoned potatoes and salad as main course and ice cream sundae as dessert. Together they cleaned up the table and sat back down outside, just enjoying the nice weather.

"Hmmm, that was really delicious Grisha. Thank you for this. It's really sweet of you."

"The evening is not over yet. I have more for you."

"More? You spoil me G."

"You deserve it. Just stay right here and I'll get it for you." Callen returned to the table a little later. He placed a package in front of Joelle. "Go ahead, open it," Callen spoke as he sat back down at the table.

Joelle took the package and unwrapped the bow and then took the lid off the box. Inside was a white bodysuit folded up. Joelle saw the top side and there was the text mommy, in black. Joelle picked the bodysuit up and looked at it. She read what was on the bodysuit. 'Mommy, will you marry my daddy?' with a ring on it. Joelle noticed there was something more in the package. There was a blue velvet box.

"Oh my god, Grisha," Joelle spoke and she noticed Callen getting up.

Callen took the blue velvet box. He got down on one knee and opened the blue velvet box. Inside was the most beautiful ring Joelle had ever seen. It was a cross-over infinity ring with a blue diamond heart in the middle. Joelle couldn't believe what was happening.

Callen took Joelle's hand.

"Jo, you have made me really happy they past couple of years. So we had a little break, but we're back together again and we have a little baby boy on the way. I can't imagine my life without out and I never wanna live without you and our baby boy. I can't wait to meet him. I love you so much. So, in the words on the bodysuit, mommy, will you marry my daddy?"

Joelle smiled as Callen spoke to her. She placed her hands on stomach.

"What do you say buddy?" Joelle spoke to her stomach. "Shall mommy marry daddy?" Joelle looked at Callen with a smile on her face. "I would love to marry you Grisha."

"Yeah?" Callen replied with a smile.

"Yeah, I would be very happy to become your wife."

With a smile on his face Callen place the ring on Joelle's left ring finger. Callen placed the box back on the table and kissed Joelle.

"I love you Jo," Callen spoke to her in a passionate voice.

"I love you too G and thank you for asking me to marry you."

"Thank you for saying yes."

Callen pulled Joelle up from her seat and sat down on his chair with her on his lap.

"I'm really happy with you and I'm very happy to have this little baby boy with you. I can't wait to meet him," Callen told Joelle.

"I know me neither. I'm really happy with you too. I didn't think at first I could handle the real you but I just love you too much to be without you. I do worry about you but I can handle it. Just promise me you will always come back to me and our little boy."

"I promise Jo, I'm not leaving you two."

"That's good. Cus I don't think I can handle that."

"I promise Joelle," Callen spoke as he looked deep into Joelle's eyes. "I promise I will come back to you two. I'm not gonna leave you, I promise."

Joelle leaned forward and kissed Callen. She loved this man so much. She was really happy with him and to be carrying his baby and now they were engaged. She was really happy with her life right now.

Callen wrapped his arms around Joelle and pulled her even closer as he deepened the kiss. He was so happy she had said yes to his proposal. He was so happy with her and he couldn't wait to meet their little boy. He never thought he would have a family life but so far he was loving it. He was still a bit scared as to what it would be like when the baby would be here but he was loving it. He promised himself he would be the best daddy he could be.

After a while Joelle stood up.

"Why don't you lock up here and join me in the bedroom in a minute?" Joelle spoke with a seductive voice.

Callen had an idea what she wanted. Joelle walked to the bedroom as Callen blew the candles out and pulled the cord of the light string out of the outlet. Callen brought their glasses inside, locked up the doors and shot down the lights. He stopped dead in his tracks when he reached the bedroom. Joelle lay on the bed wearing a sexy white, slightly see-through night gown. Joelle beckoned him with her finger. Callen took his shoes off and joined Joelle on the bed. Joelle pushed him down on the bed and straddled him.

"You like it?" Joelle asked.

"I love it. You look so beautiful."

"Thank you. You just lay back and enjoy the show."

Joelle started undressing Callen very slowly. Once he was completely undressed Joelle started pleasuring him. Callen loved what she was doing. Sex had never felt so good as with Joelle. She was really the one for him. Once Callen was finished Joelle sat on top of him again. Joelle bent down so she could kiss Callen. Callen reached underneath her night gown and took her panties off, leaving the rest of her nightgown on. As they were kissing Callen started pleasuring Joelle. Joelle sat up and braced herself with her hands on Callen's chest as he was pleasuring her. It felt so good, especially now that she was pregnant. Callen didn't have to do much to have her quivering in his arms. Callen looked at her as he was pleasuring her. He loved the expression on her face as they made love, knowing it was the things he did that brought her pleasure.

"Ooooh G, that feels so good," Joelle moaned and not long after that she reached her peak.

Once she had come down from her high Joelle moved herself on top of him and let him slide inside. Callen knew exactly what she liked, this man was so talented in bed. It always made her feel so good. Callen grabbed Joelle's hips and help her move. Joelle dug her nails into Callen's shoulder but Callen didn't really care.

"You okay up top honey?" Callen asked when she had finished for the third time that evening.

"Could you take over? I'm getting a little exhausted," Joelle replied while she kept moving a little bit.

Callen pulled out of her and took her nightgown off. Joelle lay down on her side and Callen lay down behind her. They resumed their lovemaking. Callen had his hand on Joelle's stomach and he was kissing her neck. When Joelle reached her fifth peak of the night Callen joined her. Exhausted they collapsed down on the bed next to each other.

"Wow," was all Callen could say.

"Yeah I know wow. You're so amazing."

"You're not so bad yourself."

Joelle turned around so she was facing Callen. "I love you Grisha."

"I love you too Joelle."

"And thank you for tonight, that was really wonderful."

"I hope you like the ring."

"It's perfect, I love it. Where did you get the bodysuit?"

"I found it online and ordered it."

"Ah, well it was cute. It was a cute way to ask me. I'm really glad that you did."

"Me too."

Joelle gave Callen one more kiss before she lay her head down on his chest and rested her stomach against his.

"Goodnight honey."

"Goodnight honey and goodnight my little baby."

When Joelle woke up the next morning she heard the shower running. It was just past 8.30am. She got up and decided to join Callen.

"Good morning G," Joelle spoke as she stepped into the tub.

"Good morning Jo," Callen replied as he turned around and he gave Joelle a kiss. "And good morning my little baby." Callen gave Joelle's stomach a kiss too. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Like a baby. You?"

"Me too but was up early so decided to go for a little run. I figured I'd be back before you woke up but I left a note in the kitchen just in case."

"Okay. Did you have a nice run?"

"Yes it was nice."

"Bet you worked up quite a sweat huh," Joelle spoke as she let her hands go over Callen's chest.

"Yeah a little, but I'm always up for another workout," Callen replied as he wrapped his arms around Joelle.

"Hmmm, that's good to know."

Callen leaned closer and kissed Joelle. He groaned against her lips when he felt Joelle grab him. Once he was in the game he turned in the bathtub so Joelle was standing underneath the beam. He made sure she was ready for him before turning her with her face towards the wall. Joelle braced her hands against the wall as they made love. Afterwards they showered and got dressed in their swimsuits and Callen made them some breakfast. After breakfast they lay down on the deck chairs outside after rubbing themselves with sunscreen.

They were both really enjoying the weekend here. It was nice to just get away for the weekend. The weather was good and the house was beautiful, it was really a beautiful place to unwind.

"I was thinking G," Joelle spoke as they were eating lunch. "Maybe we can go to Mount San Jacinto Park this afternoon."

"Are you sure your able to hike that?"

"Yeah I think so, maybe not everything but yeah I think it should be able to, if we take it easy."

"Okay, yeah I guess we can do that if you want."

After lunch they changed into some clothes and Callen drove them to the edge of the park. Callen parked the car. He grabbed the backpack from the car and they headed up. They followed the main trail. Callen kept an eye on Joelle to make sure she was okay and he helped her when necessary.

"You okay Jo?" Callen asked when they came to a flat part.

"Yeah I'm good. Just need to take a breather."

They were at a viewing point. There were some benches there. Callen and Joelle sat down on one of the benches and enjoyed the view. It was really beautiful here. The view was amazing. Callen took some pictures of the view.

"Here G, let me take a picture of you."

Callen handed the camera to Joelle and went to find a spot. Joelle took a picture of him with the view behind him and Callen did the same with Joelle. A couple was next to them taking pictures as well.

"Excuse me," the man spoke to Callen and Joelle. "Would you mind taking a picture of us? We'll make of you if you want then too."

"Yeah sure," Callen replied.

Callen took a picture of the couple and next the man took a picture of Callen and Joelle.

They hiked a little further before going back down again. Callen made sure Joelle didn't fall as they walked back down. They had something to drink at the café downstairs before going back to the house.

"You okay honey, it wasn't too much for you?" Callen asked as they drove back.

"No it was okay. I'm good, just a bit tired but I'm good."

"Okay good."

Once back at the house they changed into their swimsuits again.

"I'm just gonna go in the hot tub, care to join me?" Callen spoke.

"No, I can't go in the hot tub. It's not good for pregnant women."

"Ah okay. You mind if I go?"

"No, go ahead. I'm just gonna lay here."

"Okay."

Callen gave Joelle a kiss before going in the hot tub. Callen relaxed in the hot tub as Joelle relaxed on the deck chair. After a while Callen got out and went to prepare dinner. They ate dinner outside and relaxed some more outside, it was a very lovely day, it was still warm. After their food had gone down Callen and Joelle dove into the water again. They enjoyed a nice quiet evening in the pool for a while before changing into their pajamas and just watching some TV. It was just past 10pm when Joelle went to bed. Callen stayed up for about an hour longer before he went to bed as well. He smiled when he walked into the bedroom. Joelle was asleep, curled up to her pregnancy pillow. She looked so beautiful. Callen quietly got into the bed and crawled up against Joelle.

"Hmmm," Joelle moaned in her sleep when Callen crawled against her.

Callen wrapped his arm around her and gave her a soft kiss on her cheek. Joelle snuggled against Callen but stayed asleep. Callen snuggled against her and feel asleep a little later.

Callen was up early the next morning but he stayed in bed, just enjoying lying there with Joelle in his arms.

"Good morning honey," Callen spoke once he noticed Joelle was awake.

Joelle stretched herself in Callen's arms. "Hmmm, good morning honey."

Joelle turned her head and Callen kissed her. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Yeah I did. You?"

"I slept fine."

"That's good."

"Why don't you stay here a little longer while I make us breakfast."

"Deal."

Callen gave her one more kiss before he got out. He dressed himself and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. A little later Joelle joined him, fully dressed. They sat down at the table inside and ate their breakfast. They cleaned up after breakfast and loaded the dishwasher.

"Can you help me get the sheets off of the bed? I wanna put them in the washer," Joelle spoke.

"I'll do it honey, you just relax."

Callen went to the bedroom and pulled the sheets and covers off. He put them in the washer and got it started.

It was Memorial day today. They still had today till 8pm. They just relaxed around the house and in the afternoon they went to see the Memorial day parade. There was a fair going on in the city. They strolled over the fair after the parade. They bought some souvenirs before going back to their house. They cleaned up the house a bit so it was neat again and just relaxed around the house. After dinner they already packed up their stuff.

A little after 8pm the doorbell rang. Callen went to open it.

"Hello," Callen greeted the owner.

"Hello Mr. Walinksy, I hope you had a nice stay here," he spoke as he walked in.

"Yeah it was very nice. The house is beautiful."

"Well thank you. It's good to know that you had a good time."

"Here are the keys, we cleaned the house and washed the sheets and towels we used."

"That's good. I'll just have a look around."

The owner looked around and when everything was in order Callen and Joelle got their deposit back. Callen loaded their stuff into the car.

"Have a safe trip home."

"Thanks," Callen replied.

They got in the car and drove home. It wasn't that busy on the road so it took them a little less than two hours. Callen parked the car in the driveway before getting out. Callen grabbed their bags from the car before walking to the front door. As Callen wanted to unlock the door he noticed that the door was slightly open.


	17. Chapter 17

Callen dropped the bags by the door and moved to grab his gun from the back of his pants.

"G?" Joelle questioned.

"Stay here."

"G, what's going on?"

"Just stay here."

Callen carefully opened the door and moved inside with his gun raised. He looked into the house. He didn't see anything at first. He looked at the alarm system and saw it was still, or again, enabled. As he wanted to walk further into the house he heard sirens and heard them stop in front of the house.

"G," he heard Joelle call.

Callen walked outside and saw LAPD make his way up to the house.

"Agent Callen," one of the officers called.

"What are you doing here?" Callen asked.

"We got a message that the alarm at your house was going off, so we came to check it out. We didn't know you were home."

"I wasn't, I just go home. We had gone away for the weekend. When I came home I saw that the door was slightly open. I went inside to check it out. I didn't see anything at first and I saw that the alarm was still on. I was about to look further when I heard you approaching. So it just happened?"

"Yeah, we got the callout about ten minutes okay. Is anything missing?"

"I don't know, I haven't checked the entire house."

"Okay, we have no idea if he's still here. He could have split when he heard the alarm."

"Let's check it out. Can someone stay here with Joelle?"

"Of course."

A female officer stayed behind with Joelle as Callen and the other police officers went into the house to check it out. Callen grabbed a glove so he could punch in the code on the alarm system in case finger prints were on that. After that they moved into the house. They cleared everything but there was nobody to be found and nothing seemed to be disturbed or missing. Callen went out back to check the yard and garage but nothing seemed to be disturbed and he didn't see anything. He had checked everything thoroughly but there was nothing to be seen. When he was sure it was clear he went back out front where Joelle was. As soon as Joelle saw Callen she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him.

"What's going on G? Is everything okay?"

"It seems like someone broke into our house, our door was open. The alarm went off and nothing seems to be disturbed or missing. I've checked the entire house but no one is here anymore."

"Someone broke into our house?"

"It seems that way but it's possible that they got scared away by the alarm going off."

"Do you think this has something to do with your job?"

"I don't know but I'm not taking any changes. We have some cameras around so I'll check who it was that broke into our house. It could just be a random burglar but I wanna make sure and just in case we're not gonna sleep here tonight. Whoever it was might come back. I will get to the bottom of this. Don't worry, I will keep you safe, I promise. Come on let's go, it's late already."

LAPD had looked for some fingerprints but couldn't find any other than Callen's and Joelle's. Callen went to lock the door again. The door hadn't been forced up so it could still close. Whoever had broken into their house had probably used a lock pick.

"If we have any new information about this we will contact you agent Callen," one of the police officers spoke.

"Thank you."

"Do you want someone to come with you to keep you safe?"

"No that's not necessary but thank you."

"Alright."

Callen put the bags back into the car and he pulled away from the house. He went to a hotel nearby, luckily they still had a room free. It was now 11pm. Callen could tell that Joelle was tired. Once they were inside the room Joelle changed into her pajamas and went to bed. She sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Callen.

"Don't worry about this honey, I will get to the bottom of this and I will keep you safe until I do."

"Just be careful, you don't know who this person is."

Callen crouched down in front of her and took her hands. "I promise honey. Just try to get some sleep, I'll be right here." Callen caught the look in Joelle's eyes. "Don't worry honey, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you or our little boy, I promise."

"Promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise honey. I will have the team look into it and I promise I won't go anywhere without Sam." Callen gave Joelle a kiss. "Just try to get some sleep honey. I love you."

"I love you too."

Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before she lay down. Callen sat down at the table and grabbed his laptop, his Chinese laptop. He had grabbed that before they left the house. He looked at the cameras they had around the house. He started with the front door. He looked at earlier this evening. He saw a man approaching the house but he kept his face away from the door. Callen zoomed in and saw he used a lock pick to open the door. As he moved in to the house Callen switched cameras. There was a camera pointed directly at the front door. Unfortunately the man was wearing a hoodie and kept his head down so Callen still couldn't see his face. There was another camera in the left corner of the living room. Callen switched to that camera. They had a mirror hanging left of the kitchen. Callen zoomed in on the mirror and he got a glimpse of the face. Callen took a screenshot off it.

Callen took his work laptop, he had taken that too, and logged onto the server. He wasn't a tech like Eric and Nell but he still knew the basics. He took the screenshot and tried to enhance it. When it was enhanced Callen ran it through facial reg. While the facial reg was running Callen went back to his Chinese laptop and looked through the rest of the footage. He saw the man fumbling with the alarm but it didn't work so the alarm went off. As soon as the alarm went off he split. Callen looked at all the cameras in the house but he didn't see anything else. Maybe this had been just a random burglary. Apart from stepping into the house and fumbling with the alarm the man didn't do anything more, but maybe he would come back with a device to unlock the alarm so he could finish what he came to do. Callen kept the feed on so it would alert him if the man came bag. The facial reg was still running. Callen looked over to the bed and was pleased to see Joelle asleep. He really hoped this would be resolved soon so they could go home. Since there was nothing more to do right now Callen stripped out of his clothes and got into the bed as well. Joelle was facing his side, snuggled up to her pregnancy pillow. Callen gave her a soft kiss on her head and lay on his side as well. He wrapped his arm around her and crawled close to her. He dozed off a bit but was woken up a few hours later when he heard his laptop beep. Quietly he got out of the bed. He looked at the two laptops and noticed it was his Chinese laptop. The man was back at his house. Callen quickly pulled his phone out and sent a text to Sam. Callen put his clothes back on and put his gun in the back of his pants.

..

Sam woke up when he heard his phone beep. Sleepily he reached over to the nightstand. He grabbed his phone and looked at the time. It was 2.30am. He saw he had a text from Callen.

'Sam, my house, now,' the text read.

Wondering what was going on Sam jumped out of bed and got dressed. He grabbed his gun and keys and drove to his partner's house.

..

Callen picked up the room phone and called down to the front desk.

"Hello," a friendly woman answered the phone.

"This is agent Callen in room two two four, can you send hotel security to my room?"

"What's going on sir?"

"I'm busy with a case but I have someone here who needs to be kept safe."

"Of course sir, I will send someone right away."

Callen waited outside the room. Within a minute the security guard was there.

"There's a woman in the room, keep her safe until I get back."

"I will sir."

"Here is my number, call me if something happens."

Callen gave him his card before he left. Callen got in his car and drove to his house. Callen had taken his laptop with him. The man was still in the house. The hotel wasn't that far from the house so he was there in a few minutes. When he pulled up Sam just pulled up too.

"What's going on G?" Sam questioned.

"If will explain later, someone is in my house. You take the front, I'll take the back."

Wondering what was going on Sam did as Callen said. With their guns drawn they made their way up to the house. Callen approached the back door and used the key to open the door. The front door was still slightly open so Sam quietly opened it further so he could step into the house. They both moved quietly through the house with their guns drawn. According to the last feeds Callen saw the man was in the master bedroom. Callen quietly made his way up to the bedroom as Sam searched the rest of the house. He peeked around the corner and saw the man looking through his stuff.

"Federal agent! Freeze!" Callen spoke as he walked into the room. Callen could see a bit with the light coming through the windows. "What are you doing here?"

Callen kept an eye on the man and saw his hand moving towards his pants. Before Callen knew it the man turned around and shot at him. Callen quickly dove away and shot back at him, hitting him in the chest. Callen saw the man go down. Sam made his way over to his partner after hearing the gunfire as Callen moved into the room. Sam scanned the room to make sure there were no more threats.

"You go G?"

"Yeah I'm good."

Callen checked the man, he was still breathing but barely.

"Who are you? Who sent you?" Callen demanded to know.

"Call….. Call….. Callen," He spoke with his last breath.

Callen was shocked. This man knew his name. Sam was about to speak when Callen's cell phone rang. He saw it was Joelle.

"Hey Jo," Callen answered the phone.

"So glad you took the bait, agent Callen," Callen heard a male voice speak, he recognized the voice. It was the security guard that was watching the hotel room with Joelle in it.

"Where's Joelle? What did you do with her?!" Callen yelled.

"Oh she's safe for now and she will stay that way if you do as I ask."

"If you harm her, I swear to god I will kill you!"

"You're not in the position to make threats agent Callen."

"What do you want?"

Sam was on his phone and had contacted Eric to run a trace on Callen's cell phone.

"You, a trade, you for your pregnant fiancé."

"Fine, just don't hurt her."

"That's entirely up to you. Come alone. I'll send the address to your phone. None of your agent buddies. If I see any of them she's dead, you hear me."

"I hear you, just let me hear her voice, to make sure she's okay."

The man held the phone against Joelle's ear.

"G," Callen heard Joelle's scared voice.

"It's gonna be okay baby. I'm coming to get you. It's gonna be okay honey."

"G, please….."

Callen couldn't hear the rest of the sentence since the phone was removed from her reach. "You heard she's okay. Now meet me at the address in twenty minutes or she's dead."

The line went dead.

"What's going on G?" Sam asked.

"Someone has Joelle."

"Is she okay?"

"For now she is."

"What's going on?"

Callen told Sam what had happened when they arrived home from their weekend trip.

"I have to keep her safe."

"Of course G. We will keep her safe. I'll contact the rest of the team and brief them what is going on. We _will_ get her back!"

Some agents stayed at the house to take care of the dead guy as Callen went to the address the man had given him. Sam had send some other agents to the address to keep an eye on them. Callen pulled up to the abandoned warehouse. He parked the car and made his way to the door. With his gun raised her walked into the warehouse.

"Ah welcome agent Callen."

Callen saw him standing there with Joelle sitting on a chair next to him. Callen could see the tears in her eyes. Callen walked up to them with his gun pointed at the man.

"Jo, are you okay?"

Joelle nodded.

"Thank you for joining us agent Callen. No need for the gun." Callen didn't put it away. "Put it away, or I'm gonna shoot her." The man pulled a gun out and pointed it at Joelle.

Not wanting her to get hurt Callen lowered his weapon.

"Kick it over here."

Callen did as he was told. The man motioned him to shit on the chair next to Joelle.

"Jo, are you okay?" Callen asked as he walked up to them.

He wanted to put his hand out to Joelle but the man stopped him.

"Sit down."

Callen did again as he was told and the man tied him up.

"You have me now, let her go."

"Sorry, I can't let her go just yet."

"You son of a bitch. You said you would let her go."

"I lied, I can't have her tell someone where we are."

"Just don't hurt her. Do whatever you want with me, but don't hurt her."

The man walked around so he was facing Callen.

"Who are you?"

"Someone who has been looking for you for a really long time and I'm not the only one. We won't rest until you are all dead."

"Comescu," Callen spoke, putting two and two together.

"We will kill you all agent Callen."

"How has that worked out for you so far? We killed a lot of your family and we will kill you too."

Callen got a slap to his face. "You're tied up. I have all the cards."

"You really think that?" Callen spoke with a smirk, blood starting to come out of the cut on his eyebrow.

The heard some noise around them. Comescu looked up and saw agents standing on the top floor.

"Guess the game is over."

"No it's not."

Comescu pulled out his gun and was about to shoot at Joelle. Callen pushed her out of the way. Comescu managed to get a shot off before the agents shot him. Sam, Kensi and Deeks came storming in. Sam made his way over to Comescu. He removed his gun and checked him. He was dead. Kensi and Deeks made their way over to Callen and Joelle. Joelle was lying on the floor and so was Callen but Callen was still tied to his chair.

"Are you okay Joelle?" Kensi asked as she helped her sit up.

"I'm fine please check on G."

Deeks was busy checking on Callen. "Eric, we need an ambulance. Callen has been shot."

"On its way," came the reply from the tech.

Deeks untied Callen from his chair and put him on his back. Deeks saw that Callen was shot in his stomach. Deeks kept his hands on the wound to try to stop the bleeding.

"Jo," Callen's soft voice spoke.

"I'm here G, I'm here." Joelle crawled over to Callen and placed his head on her lap. "It's okay G, I'm here. I'm here."

"You….. okay?"

"Yeah I'm good, just save your breath G. I'm right here." Callen moved his hand up and Joelle took it. "I'm right here baby, just stay with me."

A little later the ambulance was there. Joelle refused to leave Callen's side but Kensi pulled her up so the paramedics could do their job. Once Callen was placed on the gurney Joelle went with him in the ambulance. During the ride to the hospital she held onto his hand.

"Please be okay G, fight G. We need you. Don't you dare die on me."

Callen removed his oxygen mask. "Jo….."

"Sir you need to keep that mask on," one of the paramedics spoke.

"I'm right here baby. I'm right here. I'm okay. You protected us."

Once they were at the hospital Callen was taking into the trauma room.

"Ma'am, let us check you out," a female doctor spoke to Joelle.

"No, I need to stay with him. I need to know he's okay."

"The doctors are working on him. They will make sure he's okay. Please, let us make sure both of you are okay too. I will ask the doctor to come update you."

Joelle looked at Callen lying on the gurney and the doctor's working on him. Eventually Joelle went with the doctor. The doctor took her to a bed next to the trauma room so Joelle could still keep an eye on Callen. Joelle lay down on the bed and the doctor checked her over. Joelle was doing okay. The doctor grabbed the ultrasound machine and put the wand on Joelle's stomach. She moved it around over her stomach. Joelle heard the baby's heartbeat.

"The baby is doing fine. The heartbeat looks fine and there's no sign over any blood or trauma to your womb." Joelle was pleased to hear that. "Are you feeling pain anywhere?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Alright, just take it easy and if you feel anything contact your doctor."

"I will."

The doctor that was working on Callen stepped out and walked up to Joelle.

"We have to take him upstairs for surgery," the doctor told Joelle.

"Will he be okay?"

"He has some internal bleedings but we will take good care of him. You can go upstairs to wait in the waiting room."

"Thank you."

Joelle went upstairs and sat in the waiting room waiting for an update on her fiancé.


	18. Chapter 18

Two hours later Joelle sat in Callen's room, next to his bed, waiting for him to wake up. Sam had joined her too in the waiting room and was now in the room with her too.

"Why don't you go get some sleep Jo, I'll keep an eye on G," Sam spoke.

"I need to be here when G wakes up."

"Why don't you go lie on the couch? I'll wake you up when G wakes up."

It was now 5am. Joelle didn't much sleep last night. She needed to be here when Callen woke up but she was actually pretty tired.

"Okay," Joelle gave in.

She went to lie on the couch. It wasn't really comfortable but it still didn't take her long to fell asleep. Callen kept an eye on his partner and on her. He really hoped Callen would wake up soon, this situation wasn't good for Joelle at all.

Just after 9am Sam stepped out of the room to call Hetty and update her on Callen's condition.

Just after Sam had stepped out of the room Callen started to come to. Slowly his eyes opened and he noticed that he was in the hospital. Then he remembered what had happened last night.

"JO!" Callen yelled, sitting upright, the sudden movement causing pain in his stomach.

Joelle woke up when Callen yelled. "G?"

Callen looked to the direction of the sound and saw Joelle lying on the couch. He wanted to get out of bed but he was too weak. Once Joelle saw that Callen was awake she got up as quickly as she could and walked over to the bed.

"G, you're awake."

Joelle sat down on the bed and fell into his arms. Callen wrapped his arms around her tightly, relieved that she was okay. Callen pulled her up from his shoulder and cupped her face.

"Are you okay honey? Is the baby okay?"

"We're both okay honey," Joelle replied as she couldn't help but cry. "I was so worried."

Callen pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm so sorry Jo. I'm so sorry honey. It's okay, I'm right here. It's okay honey. I've got you. You are safe. I'm okay honey."

Callen tried to calm her down as he rubbed his hand over his back. He felt so bad for putting Joelle through this.

A little later Sam stepped back into the room and saw the two of them hugging each other. He decided not to disturbed them right now.

Callen looked up and saw his partner standing by the door and gave him a small nod. Sam nodded back and left the room.

"I was so worried about you," Callen told Joelle. "I'm glad you're okay. I'm so sorry for everything."

"I'm just glad you're alright too. I was worried so much when I saw you got shot."

"I'm really sorry honey."

Callen released Joelle so he could put the headrest up so he could stay in a sitting position.

"Are you sure you and the baby are okay?"

"Yes he didn't hurt me and the doctor checked me over. Our little boy has a good strong heartbeat and there was no sign of trauma."

"Okay good," Callen breathed out relieved. "I'm really sorry about all of this Jo. If I had known….."

"You couldn't have known G. I mean it wasn't all that pleasant but it's not your fault."

"Yes it is Jo, he came after you because of me. I'm so very sorry about this, but this is and will always be a part of me. I don't want you or our little boy to get hurt because of me."

"Stop that G. You protected us."

"I can't be the reason something happens to you or our little boy. I love you both so much, I don't want anything to happen to either one of you."

"We're both safe G, you protected us. It was no fun being taken and I was really scared, scared for my life and that of our little boy but it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known."

"I'm so very sorry about this Jo. I'm so very sorry."

Joelle could tell that Callen was really feeling guilty about this all. It was no fun being taken and she had been really scared. She knew this could happen when she went back to Callen but this wasn't going to stop her from being with him. She loved him too much, she wanted to be with him and wanted him to be with her and their little baby. She felt safe with Callen, he would always protect them.

"We're both fine G. You protected us. We're okay."

Callen sat up a little more so he could kiss Joelle. He was beyond relieved that Joelle and their baby were okay. He was so worried about them.

"I'm really sorry honey, just promise me you won't go anywhere."

"I'm not G. I knew what I was signing up for when I came back to you. It's no fun and I was really scared but I'm not going anywhere."

"Okay good."

Joelle got up so she could sit next to Callen. Joelle still had her shoes off so she put her feet on the bed. Callen wrapped his arm around her and pulled her face to him so he could kiss her again. As they were kissing Callen moved his hand down to Joelle's stomach and let it rest there. He smiled against her lips when he felt the baby move underneath his hand.

"I love you Jo."

"I love you too G. How are you feeling?"

"A little bit weak but I'll be okay. Don't worry about me Jo."

Joelle rested her head against Callen's shoulder and the two of them just lay there. Callen noticed a little later that she had fallen asleep. He felt really bad for putting her through this. He was glad that she and their baby were okay and that she wasn't going anywhere. Callen fell asleep a little later too.

It was a few hours later when he woke up. He noticed that Joelle was still asleep in his arms. He wondered what had happened to Comescu. Callen really hoped the others had killed him. He was shocked out of his thoughts when he heard Joelle wake up.

"Hey Jo."

"Hey G."

"Are you sure you two are okay?"

"Yes we're fine G. Don't worry about us. I'm just glad to see you're doing okay. I was so worried about you."

"I'm really sorry Jo, this all must have not been good for you."

"No, it wasn't but I'm okay. You protected us."

Callen pulled Joelle closer and gave her a soft kiss on her head. "I love you Jo."

"I love you too G."

"I'm really sorry for leaving you in the hotel room. I thought you would be safe with the guard. I had no idea that he was a Comescu."

"You couldn't have known G. Where did you go actually?"

"I had the cameras in our house open and saw that the man had come back. I texted Sam to come meet me at house. I called down and asked for security to watch you. I figured you'd be safe with him until I returned. You were so peacefully asleep, I didn't want to wake you. I thought you would be safe here in the hotel room. I checked when we drove there and nobody was following us so I thought it would be safe but I called security just to be safe. I had no idea he was a Comescu. So I went to the house with Sam. The man was still there. He shot at me so I shot back. Then I heard my phone ring and saw it was you. I got so scared when Comescu answered your phone."

"Yeah, I was sleeping and I didn't hear you leaving but then I woke up when this man, Comescu, put his hand on my mouth. He told me to keep quiet, he had a gun. I wondered where you were. I didn't see you. I was so scared when he pointed that gun at me. He told me to get dressed and leave with him. He had his gun pointed at me as we left the hotel through the backdoor. I had no idea what was going on. All I could think about was where you were, I was afraid he had done something to you. We got in his car and drove to the place you later joined us."

"I'm really sorry Jo. I really thought you'd be safe there in the hotel room."

"You made sure I was, you even put the guard there. You couldn't have known that he was a Comescu."

"I still do blame myself for all this."

"Don't honey. Don't blame yourself. I don't blame you. You saved us, you made sure we were alright."

Joelle crawled against Callen as he wrapped his arms around her. Callen held her close and gave her a soft kiss on her head. He was so glad that Joelle and their little boy were alright, if Comescu had hurt them he would bring him back from the dead and kill him over and over again.

"I love you honey," Callen softly spoke to Joelle.

"I love you too baby."

Joelle stayed with Callen the entire day, she just didn't want to be without him. In the evening Sam came by too.

"Hey Sam," Callen greeted his partner.

"Hey G, how are you doing?"

"I'm okay, little bit weak but I'm okay. What happened to Comescu?"

"We shot him after he took a shot at you, he's dead."

"Okay that's good."

"Are you okay too Jo?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Little bit tired but I'm okay."

"That's good."

Sam stayed until visiting hours were over.

"Sam, can you do something for me?"

"Of course G. What is it?"

"Can you take Joelle home and keep her safe?"

"Of course G."

"I'm staying here with you G," Joelle argued.

"You need to get some sleep honey and the hospital bed is not really comfortable. And I don't think you can stay here tonight."

"I wanna stay here with you G."

Callen cupped her face. "I know honey, I want that too but you have to get some sleep for our little baby. I'll be fine Jo. I promise I'll be here in the morning. You just get some sleep and don't worry. Sam will keep you safe."

"But what about his family. He should go home to his family and not be stuck with me."

"You can come home with me. We have a guest room. I'm sure Michelle won't mind and I think Kam would like to see you again."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's no problem. You're family."

"Go honey, go get some sleep."

"Alright."

"I have my phone here, you can always call me even at night, I don't mind."

"Okay." Joelle gave Callen a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Joelle stood up but Callen pulled her back to the bed so Joelle was standing next to the bed. Callen bent down and placed a kiss on Joelle's stomach. "I love you too baby, take care of mommy for me."

"I'll see you tomorrow G."

"Yeah see you tomorrow."

Joelle gave Callen one more kiss before she left with Sam. They went to the house to get some of Joelle's things before going to Sam's place.

"Hey Jo," Michelle greeted her. "Sam told me what happened, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sam said I could stay here tonight. I hope that's no problem."

"No, not at all. The guest room is ready."

"Okay good. Thank you."

"How's G?"

"He's okay. If you don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Of course, I'll show you to the guest room."

Michelle took Joelle's bag from Sam and showed Joelle to the guest room.

"If there's anything, anything at all. We're just down the hall."

"Thank you for letting me stay here."

"Of course, you're family."

"Thanks."

Michelle left and Joelle got changed for bed. She went to use the toilet before crawling in bed. Once she was settled in the bed she pulled out her phone and called Callen.

Callen was watching some TV when he heard his phone go over. He reached over to the nightstand and quickly picked it up when he saw it was Joelle.

"Hey Jo, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Callen asked concerned.

"I'm fine G, I'm fine. Don't worry." Callen let out a relieved sigh. "I just wanted to hear your voice before I went to sleep."

"Oh that's fine. Are you all settled in?"

"Yeah I'm in the guest room, I just got in bed."

"That's good. Did you pick up your pregnancy pillow?"

"Yeah I did. We went by our house first to pick up some of my things and I grabbed my pregnancy pillow too."

"Okay that's good. I hope you can get some sleep. Sam and Michelle are just down the hall and I'm only a call away."

"I know G, I just wished you were here with me."

"I know honey, me too. I'll be out of the hospital soon enough. I'm really sorry about all of this Jo."

"I know you are honey but it's not your fault. Me and our little baby are fine, you protected us. We're all okay honey."

"I'm really glad about that. I'm glad he's dead now so he can't hurt you anymore. Just try to get some sleep tonight okay honey."

"Yeah I'll try."

"Feel free to call me or wake up Sam and Michelle if you need."

"I know, but I'll be fine."

"Alright, I'll shall let you get some sleep now. Goodnight honey."

"Goodnight honey."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Say goodnight to my little boy too."

"I will, you will try to get some sleep too, you need it too."

"I will. Bye honey."

"Bye G."

Joelle hung up the phone and placed it on the nightstand. She grabbed her pregnancy pillow and snuggled up to it, pretending it was Callen. She would've loved to feel his strong arms around her right now. She had been so scared when she was taken but everything had turned out fine, well mostly fine. She and the baby were doing fine and Callen was only mildly injured, he would be fine too. She was pretty tired so it didn't take her long to fall asleep.

Callen just lay in his bed watching some TV but his mind was Joelle. He really hoped she would be fine with all of this. He really hoped she wasn't going to leave him. This was the second time that someone went after her because of him. He really hoped this would be the last time, he never wanted to see her or their little boy hurt. Maybe he should've stayed in the hotel room and let Sam go to his house alone. That way he wouldn't have needed to contact the security guard and Joelle wouldn't have been taken. Joelle told him she didn't blame him but Callen blamed himself. He was the reason why Joelle was taken, he was the reason why she almost got shot. At least he had protected her by taking the bullet for her. He just hoped she would be alright with this all. Before going to sleep he send a text off to Sam.

'Hey Sam, how's Jo doing?'

'She's doing very well. She's asleep, haven't heard anything from the room. I just went to check on her.'

'Okay that's good. Thank you Sam.'

'It's my pleasure G, you just rest up so you can come home to her.'

'I will Sam, goodnight.'

'Goodnight.'

Callen placed his phone back on the nightstand and shut down the lights so he could try to get some sleep. He wished Joelle was next to him and he could hold her in his arms. Perhaps if he had asked the doctor she could've stayed the night but Callen knew she needed to get her rest and in this hospital bed together with him she wouldn't get enough sleep and the position wouldn't be good for her to lie in. At Sam's place she would have a normal bed and she could sleep in and she was safe there too. Sam and Michelle would keep her safe. Callen really hoped this situation wouldn't affect Joelle or the baby much. He couldn't stand to see them get hurt. He knew it was probably stupid to jump in front of her to catch the bullet but he couldn't let her get hurt. He would rather die then let anything happen to Joelle or their baby. He would keep them safe no matter what. Callen wondered how Comescu found his house. Callen had talked to Sam about it and he had Eric and Nell look into it, so far nothing had turned up yet. And how had he found them at the hotel. Surely he wasn't working there for real. He must have found out that Callen was there and when he called for security he came up, pretending to be from security. Callen had told everything to Sam who in turn had told it to Eric and Nell. The wonder twins were busy finding out how Comescu had found Callen. Callen thought back but he couldn't remember seeing anyone following him. Had he gotten sloppy? No, he always looked if he was followed, he always checked for anything suspicious. He had checked on the way to the hotel too, right? Yeah sure he had, it was an automatism. He always did that. Callen tried to think but he couldn't remember seeing anything suspicious. How did Comescu know he was at the hotel? He had checked in under an alias and paid in cash. He had been away for the weekend so Comescu couldn't have planted a tracking device in the car. Perhaps Comescu tracked him via his cell phone or laptop or something. Callen would let them all get checked out by Eric.

Eventually Callen managed to fall asleep but he was woken up about two hours later when his phone went off. Still a bit sleepily he reached over to the nightstand. He sat up in the bed when he saw that the call was coming from Joelle.


	19. Chapter 19

Quickly Callen answered the phone.

"Jo honey, is everything alright? Are you okay?" Callen concerned.

"Hey G, yeah I'm fine, I'm fine." Callen let out a relieved sigh. "I just needed to hear your voice."

"What's wrong honey?" Callen could tell that something was bothering her.

"I just had a bad dream. I just needed to hear your voice."

"I'm sorry honey. I'm right here, I'm alright. Everything's gonna be okay."

Callen wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms right now.

"I wish you were here next to me."

"Me too Jo. I can ditch the hospital and be there in ten minutes."

"No, don't you dare leave the hospital. You need to heal. Thank you honey but you need to stay in the hospital."

"I love you honey."

"I love you too."

"Everything's gonna be okay. I promise you. I'm sorry I'm not there with you honey. Just imagine I'm next to you and my arms are around you. It's gonna be okay sweetie. Just try and get some more sleep okay."

"Yeah, I'll try."

"It's gonna be okay sweetie. I'm so sorry for everything. Everything will be fine honey, I promise."

"I just needed to hear your voice. Sorry that I woke you up."

"It's okay honey. I told you, you can wake me up anytime."

"I love you Grisha."

"I love you too Joelle. Just try to get some sleep and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah see ya."

"If there's anything don't hesitate to call me, I don't mind it."

"I will, but I think I'll be fine."

"Alright, goodnight sweetie."

"Goodnight baby."

Callen waited until Joelle had hung up the phone. He felt bad for putting her through this. There's nothing he wanted more right now than to hold her in his arms and kiss her. He wanted to get out of the hospital so he could be with her but Joelle was right. He was still weak, he needed to heal, he needed to stay in the hospital. He just hoped he would be out of here soon so he could be with Joelle.

The next morning Callen was awake early. He wanted to call Joelle to see how she was doing but he didn't want to wake her up. So he grabbed his phone and sent a text to Sam.

'Hey Sam, how's Joelle doing?'

'Hey G, she's okay. She managed to sleep through the night after she called you.'

Callen smirked, of course Sam had noticed that Joelle had woken up in the middle of the night. 'I'm glad to hear. Is she still asleep?'

'Yes she is but she asked me last night to drop her off at the hospital before I went to work.'

'Ah okay. That's fine. Thanks for taking care of her Sam.'

'You're welcome G. You just get better soon so you can take care of her again.'

'I will Sam.'

'Okay, I'll see you later.'

Just past 9am Callen saw Joelle and Sam walk into the room. Joelle walked straight up to him, sat down on the bed and let herself fall into his arms.

"Hey Jo, it's okay. I'm right here honey."

Callen wrapped his arms around her and gave her a soft kiss on her head.

"I'll see you later G, I've gotta go to work," Sam spoke.

"Thank you for looking after Jo last night."

"No problem G. Take care."

"Thanks, I will."

Sam left and Callen sat there on the bed with Joelle. Callen pulled her up and kissed her.

"Did you manage to get some more sleep?"

"Yeah I did. I just wished you were there with me."

"I wished that too honey. I'll be out of the hospital soon. Everything is gonna be okay. I'm really sorry about all this honey."

"I told you, I don't blame you G. I'm just glad you're alright."

"I'm right here honey and I'm not going anywhere I promise."

Joelle went to sit next to Callen on the bed. Callen wrapped his arm around her as Joelle leaned against him.

"You didn't have to go to work today?" Callen asked.

"No, I called in sick for the rest of the week. I just needed a few days of rest."

"Ah okay. You sure that our little baby is doing fine?"

"Yes, he's doing absolutely fine."

"Okay good. And you?"

"I'm fine too G, don't worry about me. Just get better soon."

…

That weekend Callen was discharged from the hospital. Joelle had spent every day with the Hannas, she just didn't want to be home alone in the house. Callen needed to stay home for two more weeks before he could return to work. Joelle went to pick him up after work.

"Hey honey," Joelle spoke as she walked into the room.

"Hey babe."

Joelle walked over to Callen and gave him a kiss. Callen gave her stomach a kiss too.

"You ready?"

"Yeah, just need to get my things."

Callen grabbed his things and together they walked out. Joelle drove them over to the house. She opened the door but stood still in the doorway.

"You okay honey?" Callen asked concerned.

"Yeah, it's just….. it's the first time I'm back here."

"It's okay Jo, I'm here now too. No one is gonna hurt you, I promise. It's gonna be fine."

Callen grabbed Joelle's hand and took her inside. It was hard for Joelle to be here. Someone had found out that Callen lived here, what if there were others? What if more people had found out about him living here? Could there be more people coming this way? Callen was here now so she would be safe. But what when he goes back to work? What if she's here on her own again? What if those people would come here and Callen isn't here?

"Everything is gonna be okay honey, I promise. We caught those guys. No one is coming here," Callen tried to reassure her.

"But what if there are others who know about you living here?"

"My team checked it thoroughly, we caught all the people he was working with. So there's nothing to worry about honey, and I'm here again now to keep you safe." Callen pulled Joelle to him. "Everything's gonna be okay honey. We're all safe. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you or our little boy okay."

"Yeah, okay."

Callen wrapped his arms around her as Joelle leaned her head on his shoulder. Callen was happy to back home again with her. He felt really bad for everything that happened. Joelle said she didn't blame him but he blamed himself. If it wasn't for him Joelle wouldn't have been taken. Callen was just glad that she and their little baby were okay. He would never forgive himself if something happen to either one of them because of him.

They stood there for a while before Joelle disappeared into the kitchen to make dinner. After dinner they went to take a nice bath together. Callen's stitches had already come out so he could go in the bath. Callen got in first and then helped Joelle in. Joelle sat in between his legs with her back resting against his chest. Callen had his arms around her and his hands were resting on her stomach. It was nice to lay like this again, he had missed Joelle while he was in the hospital. He really hoped he wouldn't be there much in future but with his job he knew it was a risk but he wasn't planning on leaving Joelle and their little boy anytime soon.

Joelle lay there and just relaxed in Callen's arms. It felt good to be back in his arms again. Joelle was glad to have him home again. It was still a bit awkward for her to be here, she was afraid that someone would find them and try and hurt them. That's why she hadn't stayed here when Callen was in the hospital. She didn't want to stay here alone, she was too afraid to stay here alone. At least with Callen here she felt safe, she was still a bit afraid, but she felt safe to have him here.

They sat in the bath for a while before getting out. Callen watched as Joelle got dressed again. She looked so beautiful with her baby bump. Callen stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her and rested them on her stomach.

"You look beautiful," Callen admitted.

"Thank you sweetie. But I look fat."

"No, you don't look fat at all. You look so beautiful with your baby belly."

"Thanks."

"I mean it honey. You do look very beautiful and our little baby boy is in here."

"Yeah he is," Joelle replied with a smile.

They spent the night on the couch before going to bed. Instead of using her pregnancy pillow Joelle used Callen as a pillow. Callen didn't mind one bit. He liked cuddling up to her. Callen lay on his back and Joelle lay with her head on his chest, her stomach resting against his and her leg tangled around his. Callen had his arm wrapped around Joelle.

"Goodnight honey, I'll be right here if you need me. Don't hesitate to wake me up," Callen spoke.

"Goodnight honey. I will."

"Okay good." Callen lifted Joelle's head up and kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Callen gave her one more kiss before he took her into his arms as Joelle snuggled against his chest.

He was pleased to see that Joelle was still asleep when he woke up the next morning. She hadn't woken up during the night. Joelle was still curled up to him so Callen didn't want to go out, he didn't want to wake her. Besides he liked lying with her like this. About a half hour later he noticed that Joelle was awake too.

"Good morning honey," Callen spoke.

Joelle stretched herself in Callen's arms. "Good morning honey."

Joelle lifted her face up and gave Callen a kiss. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah I slept fine, I like having you here with me again."

"Yeah me too, it's so much better than the hospital bed and the company is way better."

"I'm glad you're home again."

"Me too honey."

Callen lowered his head and kissed Joelle. He shifted so he was on his side as well. He grabbed Joelle's leg and lifted it over his hip. He moved his lips down to her neck as he pressed against her. Callen knew exactly what to do to make Joelle feel like jelly in his arms.

"Hmmmm G," Joelle moaned.

With Callen just being released from the hospital she didn't know if this was such a good plan but her pregnancy hormones were telling her otherwise. She wanted him, she wanted him so badly.

"You… sure? You're ….. sure you're….. up for this?" Joelle tried to speak.

"I'll be fine honey. I just wanna make love to my fiancé," Callen whispered in her ear.

Damn this man, he knew all the right buttons to push. She was never able to resist him, not that she wanted to. Joelle turned them around so Callen was on his back and she sat on top of him.

"Maybe you should let me do the work this time."

"Sure, anything if I can make love to you."

"You really want me that much?" Joelle asked with a smirk.

"Oh you have no idea."

"Oh I think I do. At least if what I'm feeling between my legs is what I think it is."

"Oh it is and it's all for you."

"Good. You want me to do something about that?"

"You know I do."

Joelle pressed down a little firmer on his lap and grinded her hips against him. Callen was going crazy. He needed to make love to her right now.

"Jo please," Callen begged.

Joelle took her nightgown and their underwear off before straddling Callen again. She resumed her previous actions, watching how it drove Callen crazy. With her pregnancy hormones she didn't need to do much. She kept grinding her hips against him, it felt so good. She had come twice already when she felt that Callen was close. Quickly she grabbed him and sank down on him. This was enough for Callen to reach his peak and Joelle joined him. Callen grabbed her hips and helped her move up and down on him. Callen looked up to her, she looked so beautiful doing this. Her head was thrown back and she was moaning loudly. Callen loved seeing her like this, knowing it was the things that he did that brought her so much pleasure. In no time Joelle had come twice more.

"I know you haven't finished G, but I can't anymore. I'm too tired."

"That's okay. We'll change."

Callen lay Joelle down on her side and wanted to lay down behind her but Joelle turned around.

"I wanna look into your eyes as we make love."

Callen lay down next to her and grabbed her leg to lift it over his hip. He kissed her as he moved inside of her. Joelle's stomach was a bit in the way but it was fine. They kissed as they continued making love but soon the pleasure became too great. Joelle threw her head back and moaned loudly. Callen held her as close as possible as he finished them.

"Wow," Joelle breathed once Callen pulled out of her.

"Yeah I know wow. I love making love to you, especially now that you're pregnant."

"Oh yeah, it's just so good."

It was Sunday now so Joelle didn't have to go to work. Joelle gave Callen one more kiss before she got up from the bed. Callen followed her and together they got underneath the shower. After the shower they sat out on the porch to have breakfast. After breakfast Callen pulled her out into the garden and together they lay on the hammock with Joelle in between Callen's legs with her back against his chest.

"I'm glad to be home again, I've missed you."

"I've missed you too."

"How was it at Sam's?"

"It was just fine. I just didn't want to stay here alone."

"I can understand Jo. I'm really sorry about everything."

"I know you are honey but it's not your fault. You couldn't have known that that guard was a Comescu. We're all fine, that's what matters."

"Yeah it does. I'm glad you and our little boy are fine. I was so worried about you two."

"We're both fine honey, you protected us. It was stupid that you dove in front of the bullet but thank you."

"I just couldn't let anything happen to either one of you."

"I could have lost you G."

"But you didn't. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon so don't worry. I'm not planning on making you a single parent."

"Good, cus I couldn't deal with it if something would happen to you."

"I'm not leaving you honey. I'm not leaving you and our little boy."

Callen gave Joelle a soft kiss on her head and just held her in his arms. They lay in the hammock for a while before Joelle went to do some light housework.

…

That Monday Joelle had an appointment with her doctor after work. She came by the house first to pick up Callen. Joelle was now twenty two weeks pregnant. Together they sat in the waiting room until they were called in. Once they were called in Callen helped Joelle onto the bed.

"Good evening, how are we doing?" The doctor asked as she stepped inside.

"We are doing just fine," Joelle answered. "Some sore feet and a sore back but otherwise I can't complain."

"That's good. Why don't you lay down so I can examine you?"

Joelle lay down on the bed as the doctor got everything ready. Joelle rolled her shirt up and Callen couldn't help but smile as he looked at her baby bump.

Once the machine was ready the doctor put some gel on the wand before placing it on Joelle's stomach. They immediately heard the heartbeat. It was such a beautiful sound.

"The baby is doing very well. He's growing nice and big." Callen and Joelle were both pleased to hear that. "Would you like to see the 3D image?"

"Oh yes please," Joelle answered.

The doctor pressed some keys on the keyboard and the screen turned to 3D. Callen watched astonishing. That was his little boy, his and Joelle's little boy. You could clearly see some shapes already. It was so cute to see the baby like this.

"Look at that," Callen spoke to Joelle.

Joelle looked at him and could see the love spread across his face.

"Yeah it's beautiful. That's our little boy."

"Yes he is."

The doctor took Joelle's vitals and gave them a picture of the ultrasound and a DVD of the 3D ultrasound. Joelle made an appointment for three weeks from now on her way out. Before going home they went to pick up some pizza.

"Hey G, can I ask you something?" Joelle spoke once they had finished their pizza.

"Sure, what's up?"

"It's just….. I don't know how you'd feel about it… I know you like living here…. But I was wondering how you'd feel about finding another house?"


	20. Chapter 20

"Another house?"

"Yeah. If that's what you want."

"I've never really thought about it. Why do you wanna move? Is it because of that Comescu thing?"

"Yeah. I can't help but feel scared here. That's why I didn't stay here when you were in the hospital."

Callen grabbed Joelle's hands. "It's okay honey, I'm here now. You have nothing to be scared off. I won't let anything happen to you or our little boy, I promise."

"I know honey, but what when you go back to work, when I'm here alone again. I think I'll still be scared then. What if someone else, someone who wants to hurt you, knows about you living here?"

"My team checked it thoroughly, there's no one else in the group that Comescu dealt with, no one else knows about this house."

"But Comescu somehow found out, there could be others."

"Honey, I will keep you and our little boy safe I promise, but if this is something that you really feel like would be good I will give it some thought."

"Thank you. I know you like living here, it's your first real home and this was your favorite foster placement. But I just can't help but feel this way. I know what your job is like and the dangers that come with it but I thought I'd be safe here in the house considering it's under your alias."

"I know, I thought that too. But my team looked at everything and they got everyone."

"I know, but there could still be others. If they were able to find out other people could too."

"I know honey, I know. But for now I'm home so you have nothing to worry about and I promise I'll think about moving."

"Okay, thank you. I know this house means a lot to you but I just don't feel safe anymore here."

"I can understand that Jo, I really do. I promise I'll think about it but for now I am home to protect you so you have nothing to worry about."

Joelle fell into Callen arms and the two of them sat together on the couch. "I know with your job and everything it's dangerous but I feel safe with you."

"That's good. I'll always be here to protect you and our little boy."

"Good."

"I love you Jo."

"I love you too G."

They sat like that for a while before going to bed. Joelle snuggled up to her pregnancy pillow, facing Callen, and was fast asleep. Callen lay awake, thinking about what Joelle had asked earlier. Should he move? He wanted Joelle and their baby to feel safe whenever he was not there but was he ready to move? This play was his home, his first real home. He really liked living here. They both agreed that Joelle would come live here when they agreed to move in together. But now Joelle wanted to move. Callen understood where she came from and why she wanted to leave. He should just move because he wanted her to feel safe when he wasn't around but it was hard for him. It had taken him really long to finally by his own house and to get furniture. He had a good home now here with Joelle and they had finished the nursery. This felt like his home but maybe it was possible to create a new home with Joelle. Maybe there was a house out there that was perfect for them.

He loved Joelle more than anything and he was really happy with her so maybe he should just move, it was just a house after all. And the memories he had of this house would always be with him. Technically this was still his house since Joelle moved in with him, maybe it would be good to buy _their_ house. Joelle was right though, there could be others who find out about this house. He really liked this place but he wanted Joelle to feel safe when he wasn't around. And just like Joelle had said, what if someone else found out and came here and he wasn't there? He couldn't stand to see Joelle get hurt. So they had painted the nursery already, they could do that again somewhere else, they had everything else already so it was just paint or wallpaper.

After a while Callen managed to fall asleep. He was awake early the next morning but he decided to stay in bed with Joelle. He crawled closer to her and wrapped his arm around her. A little later he noticed that Joelle was waking up.

"Good morning honey," Callen spoke softly.

"Good morning baby."

Callen gave Joelle a kiss. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, I slept fine. You?"

"Fine too. I've been doing some thinking about what you said last night. If you really want to move I'm okay with that."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I just want you to feel safe whenever I'm not around."

"I know you like this house, this was your first house, so I know it's not easy for you. But it's just a house, the memories will always be with you. After everything that happened I just don't feel safe here anymore, I'm afraid someone else will come here when you're not around."

"I get that, that's why I'm willing to move. I just want you to feel safe and I don't want anything to happen to you or our little boy. I'm sure we can find a house that will be perfect for our little family. We can built our family life there."

"Yeah we can. Yeah I'm sure there will be a house that will be perfect for us. Maybe we can even find a house with a nursery already so we don't have to paint it again."

"Yeah perhaps and I'm still home for a couple weeks so you'll be safe at home."

"Yeah I'm glad about that. We can find a house together."

"Yeah we can."

Callen pulled her closer and kissed her again. He pulled the pregnancy pillow out from between them so he could pull her closer. Their pajamas were taken off and they made love. After breakfast they looked at some houses. They already found a couple of houses that looked nice. They made appointments to visit the houses. They had one house on Thursday evening and two more on the weekend. The first house Joelle thought was okay, not special, but Callen didn't like it. That Saturday they went to visit the other two houses. The first one looked nice, Joelle could totally see them living here but the other house looked really nice on the pictures too so they waited to make a decision until they had seen that one too. The other house was right after this one. That one looked really nice too.

"What do you think G? Do you think we've found our house already?" Joelle asked.

"I'm not sure. They both look nice but I don't know. I didn't get that wow feeling. What do you think?"

"I really liked the first one we saw today. It's in a good neighborhood and it looks beautiful."

"Yeah perhaps, I thought they both looked nicer in the pics. I don't think these are our houses just yet."

"Okay, if you don't like it we'll look further."

With the other houses they visited Callen always managed to find something wrong. Joelle was getting a bit annoyed. None of the houses Callen seemed to like, she wondered if he really wanted to move.

They sat together on the couch and looked at some more houses

"What do you think of this one?" Joelle asked.

Callen looked at the pics. "It's okay I guess."

"It's perfect G."

"I don't know."

"Alright out with it!" Joelle kinda yelled.

"Out with what?"

"Every house you manage to find some wrong with it, they are all perfect houses. It's like you deliberately are looking for something wrong cus you don't wanna move."

"No, it's not that Jo."

"Then what is it? I've shown you perfect houses. So it's not this house, but you said you were okay with moving."

"I know….."

"Well it seems like you're not okay with moving after all."

"I am Jo, I am. I just…I don't know."

"You don't want to move? You don't want me and our baby to feel safe? I thought you loved us."

"I do Jo, I do."

"Then why won't you move? Do you want me and our baby to get hurt?"

"No Jo, I don't want that at all."

"Then stop being such a jerk when we're looking at houses. They were all perfect for us."

Joelle put her laptop on the table and got up. She didn't want to be around Callen right now. She really hated Callen right now. She told him why she wanted to move but it seemed like he was refusing to move. Joelle thought they meant more than that to Callen. That their safety was important to him, but maybe they weren't important to him. Maybe he wasn't right for family life after all. Maybe it had been a mistake to come back to him. Maybe it would just be better if Joelle raised this baby on her own, free Callen. Ever since Joelle had asked Callen about moving he had changed, like he was angry at her for asking him to move from his home.

A little later Callen walked into the bedroom and found Joelle packing a bag.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving."

"What? Come on Jo. Just because of the whole house thing?"

"Yes G, cus of the house thing. We've looked at perfect houses but you always find something wrong with them, it's clear to me that you don't want to move. And with that you're saying that me and the baby our not important, that our safety doesn't matter to you. I've just had it. If you don't want to move I will move."

"Come on Jo, don't do this."

"It's your call G. Either we move or I'm moving out."

Callen stood there perplexed, was Joelle really giving him an ultimatum?

"I…" Callen wasn't sure what to say.

"Right."

Joelle grabbed her bag and wanted to leave but Callen stopped her.

"Let me go G, it's clear that you don't want this."

"But I do Jo, I do."

"No you don't, it's really clear to me that you don't. I shouldn't have come back to you, I'm sorry."

Joelle wanted to move past Callen but her grabbed her by the arm to stop her. Joelle wiggled to get free. With her free hand she slapped Callen across the face causing him to let her go. Joelle quickly left. She grabbed her car keys and went outside. She locked the door so Callen couldn't come after her immediately. She got in her car, which was in the driveway and pulled away.

Just as she pulled out of the driveway Callen came outside too. He got in his own car and followed Joelle. This wasn't how he planned everything, he didn't want to lose Joelle. So maybe he had been a little picky with the new house, but he did want to move, he wanted Joelle and their baby in his life and he wanted them to feel safe. He needed to get her back and try to explain everything to her.

Callen followed her and almost caught up to her when they drove across a crossing. Callen saw a car coming up to her from the right, it was green for them so they could drive through. Before Callen knew it the car had crashed against Joelle's car which sent her rolling over the pavement and she ended up against a pole. Callen quickly parked his car behind her and ran up to her car.

"Jo!" Callen yelled afraid.

Callen crawled inside the car and he noticed that Joelle was unconscious. He heard the sirens approaching already. They were close to a fire station so it didn't take long before the firemen and the paramedics were there. Callen moved so the paramedics could look after Joelle but it didn't really look good. Callen stood there nearly in tears as he watched the paramedics work on Joelle. Once she was out of the car they tried to stabilized her. Callen watched as they pulled out a defibrillator. Joelle was shocked a couple of times but it wasn't helping. Callen watched in horror when the paramedics stopped a little later.

"What?! Why are you stopping? Safe her damn it!" Callen yelled.

"I'm sorry sir, there's nothing more we can do. She's gone. I'm sorry," one of the paramedics spoke.

Callen couldn't believe it. Joelle was dead, she was gone.

"What about the baby?" Callen asked, holding back the tears.

The paramedic grabbed a Doppler and moved it over Joelle's stomach. "No, heartbeat. I'm sorry sir."

Callen couldn't believe it, both Joelle and their little boy were gone. He had caused this, if they didn't have a fight Joelle wouldn't have left. She would still be here. If only Callen had agreed to one of the houses, then this wouldn't have happened. Callen felt so angry right now. He looked around and saw the cops handling the other driver. He seemed drunk. Callen ran up to him.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU KILLED THEM!" Callen yelled as he punched him.

"Sir, step back. We've got him," one of the officer spoke.

"No, he killed them! He needs to pay."

"He will sir, we'll take him to jail. I know you're upset right now."

"Upset doesn't even being to cover it! He needs to pay for what he did."

"He will."

One officer tried to calm Callen down as the other walked the other driver to the squad car. Callen showed to the other officer that he had calmed down so the other officer walked away too. Suddenly Callen pulled his gun out and shot at the driver multiple times. The officer quickly ran up to Callen and took him down. Callen lay on the pavement with his hands behind his back as he looked towards the driver. He saw the cop shake his head, he was dead. Callen had killed him. Callen was arrested and put in the squad car. He didn't care about that. Joelle and their baby were going, it didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore.

Callen was booked and put in a holding cell. He lay there on the bunk just staring up at the ceiling. His life was over, he had nothing left to live for.

"G?" Callen suddenly heard a familiar voice. Callen looked over to the door of the cell and saw Sam standing there. He had no desire whatsoever to talk to him so he turned his gaze back to the ceiling. "What did you do G? They told me you shot and killed a guy. What were you thinking?"

"It doesn't matter anymore Sam, nothing matters. He killed Joelle and our baby. Nothing matters anymore. I belong it here, I killed them. My life is over."

"What happened G?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"G?"

"I said I don't want to talk about it! Just leave Sam. You can't help me now, no one can. Guard! Take him away. I don't want any visitors."

The guard came and told Sam to leave.

"I'll get you out of here buddy."

"Don't bother," Callen mumbled underneath his breath and Sam left.

He didn't want to get out of here, he belonged it here. Joelle and their baby were gone. He had nothing left to life for. His job, his friends, nothing mattered anymore because he had killed Joelle and their baby. It was his fault they were dead, he'd be better off in here than out there. He didn't deserve to be out there. He had shot and killed a man, he should be in here. Callen just felt so angry that he couldn't help himself but to shoot and kill the man that had taken everything away from him. That man needed to pay for what he had done. But more than anything Callen was pissed at himself, he had caused Joelle to run away, it was his fault that Joelle had gotten in the car. If only he had agreed to a house, then this wouldn't have happened.

Callen lay there on his bunk and shut his eyes, trying to forget everything that had happened today but it wasn't working. He kept seeing Joelle lying there lifeless on the street.

Callen opened his eyes again and he noticed that he was in the hospital.


	21. Chapter 21

Callen blinked his eyes a few times, wondering what was going on. The last thing he remember was that he was in jail and now he was in the hospital. Did he miss something? Did something happen that caused him to be here? Or wasn't it real at all what he had in front of his mind? Callen looked around the hospital room and he saw someone lying on couch. She looked so much like Joelle, his Joelle. No, it couldn't be, or could it?

"Jo," Callen called. "Jo!"

Joelle started waking up when she heard someone call her. "G?" Joelle spoke half asleep. She turned around on the couch and saw that Callen was awake. "G! You're awake."

Callen saw Joelle there on the couch. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the best, wincing as pain hit him in his stomach. Joelle got up and walked over to the bed as soon as she saw Callen get out of bed.

"Wow, easy, easy G. You need to stay in bed."

As soon as Joelle was in his reach Callen wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close as he sat on the edge of the bed. Callen held her tight, relieved that she was okay. Callen released her and cupped her face in his hands.

"Are you okay honey?" Callen looked down at her stomach. "Is our little baby okay?"

"We're both fine honey, we're both fine. Don't worry about us. I'm just glad you're okay."

"What happened exactly? It's a little bit foggy."

"You got shot when you tried to rescue me from the Comescu guy."

"Right, we had come back from our holiday weekend and the door was open," Callen started remembering.

"Yeah and we went to a hotel. I was woken up a little later and Comescu was standing in the hotel room. He took me somewhere and you came to rescue me. He was about to shoot me and you dove in front of me. You were shot and had to have surgery. You were out for a while but you're awake now."

Callen wrapped his arms around Joelle again and kissed her. He was so relieved that she and their little boy were okay. He moved his hand to her stomach and rested it there. He smiled against her lips when he felt their little boy move underneath his hand.

"Come on, let's get you back in bed."

Joelle helped Callen lay back on the bed. She put the headend up so Callen could sit. Joelle sat down in front of him on the bed.

"You sure you're both okay?" Callen asked.

"We're both fine G. The doctor checked us both over. I have no injuries and our little boy has a good strong heartbeat and there was no sign of any trauma."

"Okay good," Callen breathed out relieved. "I'm not dreaming, I am? This is real right?"

"Yes it is G. It's real. You're not dreaming. Why you ask?"

"I guess I just had this comatose dream or something. I thought I had lost you."

"Oh honey," Joelle said and she grabbed Callen's hands. "You didn't lose me. I'm still here sweetie. Me and our little boy are both still here. We're both fine. Don't you worry about us. Just focus on getting better."

Sam walked into the room and was surprised to see his partner awake.

"Hey partner, glad to have you back with us."

"Hey Sam, everyone okay? Did you get Comescu?"

"Yeah we got him. Everyone's okay. How are you feeling?"

"Okay, little bit weak but okay I guess. How long was I out for?"

"About a day. It's Thursday morning now."

"Did you find everyone? Did you find out how Comescu found out where I lived?"

"Yeah, Eric and Nell looked through everything and we finally found the mole in our office. It was Noah."

"Noah, from personnel?"

"Yeah that one, he had been the mole all along. But we've got him now and we've checked him thoroughly for anyone else that might have been involved. Eric and Nell found them all and we, with the help of other agencies, found them all."

"That's good."

"I'm off to work. You just get some rest."

"I will. See ya Sam."

"See ya," Sam replied and left the room.

"You sure you're okay Jo?"

"I'm fine honey. Me and our little boy are both fine, don't worry about us."

"Have you been here the entire time?"

"Yes I have. I wanted to be here when you would wake up."

"Did you at least get some sleep?"

"Yeah I managed to sleep on the couch."

"Okay that's good. I'm really sorry about all of this."

"It's not your fault G, you couldn't have known."

"But still, it's my fault he came after you. If only I hadn't left you alone in the hotel."

"It's not your fault G. Sam told me what had happened. That the guy was back at our house in the middle of the night and that you put a guard with me to keep me safe. You couldn't have known that the guard was a Comescu. You did everything to protect me. It's not your fault."

"I blame myself for putting you in this position."

"Don't honey. It's not your fault. I don't blame you. You couldn't have known a Comescu was behind this. You did everything you could to protect me."

"I could've stayed with you at the hotel and had Sam go to my house. If I had stayed with you this wouldn't have happened."

"You wanted to make sure you got this guy. You thought I was safe with the guard there. It's not your fault. I don't blame you okay."

"I'm just glad you two are okay. I don't know what I would've done if something had happened to either one of you. I'm really sorry about all of this."

"It's over now G, I'm just glad you are okay. I was so worried about you when I saw you got shot."

"I'm sorry honey, but I'm alright. I'll be alright. It'll take more than a bullet in the stomach to take me down," Callen tried to joke.

"Not funny G."

"Sorry, come here."

Joelle moved to sit next to Callen and Callen wrapped his arm around her as Joelle rested her head on Callen's shoulder. Callen turned his head and gave her a soft kiss on her head.

"I'm right here honey, everything's gonna be okay. I'm not leaving you," Callen told her.

"That's good, cus I don't want you too."

"It's okay honey, I'm right here. It's gonna be okay."

They sat like that for a while until Callen noticed Joelle was getting uncomfortable.

"You okay honey?"

"Yeah, this is just not a good position for me to sit in."

"Why don't you come lay on the bed with me?"

"You sure? I don't want to be in your way."

"There's enough room for both of us."

Callen moved a bit so Joelle could lay down next to him. Joelle lay down on her side with her stomach resting against Callen's stomach. Callen wrapped his arm around her and his other arm rested on her stomach.

"You comfortable Jo?"

"Yeah, as much as I can be. I'm just happy to be laying in your arms again."

"I've got you honey. I'm not letting go. You're safe. I'm right here."

Joelle lifted her head up and gave Callen a kiss. "I love you Grisha."

"I love you too Joelle."

Callen gave Joelle another kiss before Joelle snuggled against his chest. He was pleased to see she had fallen asleep a little later. He was so glad that she and their little boy were okay. That dream he had kept playing in front of his mind. He remembered everything about it. He vowed to himself that things wouldn't happen like they had happened in his dream. He didn't want to lose Joelle and their little baby. Since the medicines were still in Callen's system, Callen fell asleep a little later too.

He was woken up a few hours later when the doctor came to check on him.

"Ah, good to see you awake sir. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, a little tired but okay."

"Who are you talking to G?" Joelle asked half asleep.

"Just the doctor honey."

Joelle woke up and noticed that the doctor was in the room. She got up from the bed so the doctor could examine Callen. The doctor took Callen's vitals and changed the dressing on his wound.

"How long do I have to stay here?" Callen asked.

"You can probably go home in the weekend."

"Okay and how long do I have to stay home then?"

"I think a week or two/three. But we'll see that when we discharge you. For now you're doing okay. I'll be back later to check on you."

"That's fine. Can my fiancé maybe stay here with me this night?"

"Sorry sir, hospital policy. Now that you're awake again the visitors will have to keep to the normal visiting hours."

"I understand," Callen spoke and the doctor left the room.

"I'll be right back G, gotta use the bathroom."

Joelle gave Callen a kiss and went to use the bathroom.

"I want you to go with Sam tonight," Callen spoke once Joelle came back. "I want you to stay with him until I'm out of the hospital."

"You sure Sam's okay with that?"

"I'm sure he will be. I just don't want you to be alone in the house right now."

"Yeah I don't want that either. I had hoped I could stay here with you."

"I know honey, me too. You'll be safe with Sam and Michelle and I'm just a phone call away. You just need to get some rest for you and our little boy."

"Yeah, I didn't get much sleep lately."

"Yeah, my fault."

"I told you G, I don't blame you. You don't need to feel guilty. I know you probably do but this wasn't your fault. You made sure you got this guy and that me and the baby were okay. This is not on you G."

"I still can't help but feel guilty."

"I know honey, but we're all okay." Joelle crawled closer to Callen and gave him a kiss.

In the evening visiting hours Sam and Hetty came by.

"It's good to see you awake Mr. Callen."

"It's good to be awake."

"What did the doctor say G?" Sam asked.

"I can probably go home on the weekend and then two more weeks at home."

"Ah okay, just be sure you take it easy."

"I will Sam. Can you do something for me Sam?"

"Of course G."

"Can you take Jo home with you? I don't want her to be alone in the house."

"Yeah sure G, no problem."

"You sure Sam, I don't want to impose," Joelle said.

"You're not imposing Jo. G's family, which makes you family too. I don't mind and I'm sure Michelle won't either. We have a guest room so you can sleep there."

"Okay."

They stayed till the end of the visiting hours.

"You just try to get some sleep okay," Callen spoke to Joelle.

"I will, you too. You need to rest too."

"I will Jo, I promise."

"Okay good."

"I have my phone on in case you need me, you can always call me, even in the middle of the night, I don't mind."

"I know, but I'll be fine honey." Joelle gave Callen a kiss. "You better be here when I get here tomorrow."

"I will honey."

"Good." Joelle gave Callen another kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." Callen pulled Joelle closer and gave her stomach a kiss. "I love you too baby, be good to mommy tonight."

Joelle smiled as Callen spoke to her stomach, she loved it when he did that. Joelle gave Callen one more kiss before she left with Sam. They went by her place to pick up some of her things before going to Sam's place.

"Hey Joelle," Michelle greeted her.

"Hey Michelle, Sam said it was okay for me to stay here. G didn't want me to be alone in the house. I hope it's not a problem."

"No, of course it's no problem. You're always welcome here."

"Thanks, I don't want to impose."

"You're not imposing, you're family."

"Thank you. Would you mind if I used your shower?"

"No, not at all. You can even use the tub if you prefer that. It's not a problem."

"Thank you."

"Come on, I'll show you were the room is and where the bathroom is."

Michelle took Joelle's things from Sam and showed Joelle to the guest room. Michelle put the things down on the bed and showed Joelle where the bathroom was.

"Just make yourself at home."

"Thanks Michelle."

Michelle left and Joelle put the tub on. It was nice to just relax in the tub. She stayed in the tub for about half an hour before getting out. She dressed herself in her pajamas and went downstairs.

"Hey guys, I'm off to bed if you don't mind."

"No it's fine. You just get some sleep," Michelle replied. "Sam and I will be here if you need us."

"Thanks, goodnight."

"Goodnight," Sam and Michelle replied.

Joelle walked back to the bedroom and lay down on the bed. She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Callen.

Callen was just watching some TV when he heard his phone beep. He picked it up and saw he had a message from Joelle.

'Hey G, I just wanted to say goodnight.'

Callen dialed Joelle's number.

"Hey G," Joelle answered the phone.

"Hey Jo, you're all settled in?"

"Yeah, I just had a nice bubble bath and now I'm in bed."

"That's good. Just try to get some sleep okay."

"I will, I just wanted to say goodnight to you before I went to sleep."

"Goodnight Jo and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah see you tomorrow."

"I love you Jo."

"I love you too G."

"You can always call me when you need me okay."

"I know G but I'll be fine, I promise."

"Alright, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Joelle hung up and put her phone on the nightstand. She shifted in the bed and snuggled up to her pregnancy pillow. Within minutes she was asleep.

Callen lay there in the hospital bed just flicking through channels. His comatose dream was still playing in front of his mind. Why the hell did he dream that? He really hoped something like that wouldn't happen for real. He didn't want to lose Joelle and their baby. He tried to shake the dream off and just focus on the here and now, Joelle and their baby were still alive. They were both okay. His dream didn't happen. Before he went to sleep he pulled his phone out and sent a text to Sam.

'Hey Sam, how's Joelle? Is she asleep?'

'Hey G, yeah I just went to check on her. She's asleep.'

'Okay good, thank you for letting her stay with you.'

'It's no problem G, she's family. You just make sure you get better so you can be there for her.'

'I will Sam, I promise. Goodnight.'

'Goodnight.'

Callen put his phone away and tried to get some sleep. He was still a bit weak and tired from his injuries and the surgery so he was asleep pretty soon. It was around 8am when he woke up the next morning. He picked up his phone. He wanted to call Joelle to see how she was doing but he didn't want to wake her so he texted Sam instead.

'Hey Sam, how's Joelle? Is she still asleep.'

'Hey G, yeah she is. I think she slept well last night. I didn't hear her at all. When I woke up I went to check on her, she was still asleep.'

'Okay good.'

A little later the nurse came by with Callen's breakfast. Just as Callen had finished his breakfast he heard his phone ringing. He picked it up and saw it was Joelle.

"Hey honey, everything okay?" Callen answered the phone.

"Hey baby, yeah everything's fine. I just woke up and I just wanted to hear your voice."

"That's fine. Did you get some sleep last night?"

"Yeah, I slept fine. How about you?"

"Yes I slept fine too but I missed you here next to me."

"I know G, me too. I'll come by the hospital later today to visit you."

"I'm looking forward to that. You're not going to work?"

"No, I called in sick for the week. I wanted to be in the hospital with you."

"Ah okay. Just take your rest today and I'll see you later."

"I will, you too."

"I will, I love you."

"I love you too."

..

"Hey G," Joelle called as she walked into the hospital room just after 2pm.

Callen looked up when he heard Joelle's voice. "Hey honey."

Joelle walked over to the bed and gave Callen a kiss. Callen bent down and gave Joelle's stomach a kiss too.

"Have you been a good boy for mommy?"

"Yes he has."

"Good."

"How are you feeling?"

"Better than yesterday, still a bit tired but I'll be fine. Listen Joelle, there's something I wanna talk to you about."

"Okay…." Joelle replied, wondering what Callen wanted to talk to her about, hoping it was nothing bad.

"I've been doing some thinking. With everything that happened with Comescu and such. He found out where we lived, through the mole in our office however but still, he found out and there could be others so I was wondering how you'd feel about moving."

"Moving? As in buying another house?"

"Yes. I want to buy a new house with you, our house."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Sorry for the delay. Didn't have to time to finish it yesterday.**

* * *

"I want to buy a new house with you. With everything that had happened I'm just not comfortable with you being alone at the house," Callen said.

"Really? I had thought about it too but I was afraid to bring it up since I know how much you love living there."

"Yes I do, it's the first home I've ever owned but it doesn't matter, I just want you to feel safe in the house. I can't concentrate at work when I know you're home alone in the house. We got all the people but they found out I was living there so there could be others. I just want you to feel safe, the house is not important. I just want you and our little boy to feel safe when I'm not around. It's just a house, the memories I have of the house will always be with me no matter where I am. Just as long I have you and our little boy with me I'll be fine."

"Thank you G. I'm glad you want to move too. I was too afraid to bring it up."

"Anything for you and our little boy honey. I just want you to feel safe. I'll be home for a few weeks so you'll be safe then, hopefully by the time I go back to work we've found a house. And as long as we'll be living in this house I will protect you. You are safe with me honey, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you or our little boy."

Joelle sat down in front of Callen on the bed. "I'm sure we can find the perfect house for us."

"Oh yes, I'm sure that there will be a nice house for us, maybe even one with a playground nearby."

"That would be nice."

"We'll find the perfect house for our family Jo, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah we will," Joelle smiled at him.

….

That Sunday Callen was released from the hospital. Joelle went to pick him up. Callen did have to stay at home for two more weeks before going back to work. Joelle had spent every day with the Hanna's, she didn't want to be alone in the house.

"Hey G," Joelle spoke as she walked into the hospital room.

"Hey honey." Callen was just finished getting dressed and he sat on the edge of the bed to put his shoes on. Callen pulled Joelle closer to him, so she was standing in between his legs, and he wrapped her arms around her waist. Joelle wrapped her arms around his neck as Callen brought her closer and kissed her. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, I'm glad you're coming home again."

"Are you okay to go back to the house? We can always go to a hotel or something."

"I think I'll be alright, I've got you there to protect me."

"Yes you do. And I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

Callen gave Joelle one more kiss and went to put his shoes on. Callen grabbed his things and walked out with Joelle. Joelle drove them back to the house. All the stuff that she had taken over to Sam's were in her car. Once home Callen helped Joelle carry her stuff in. Joelle opened the door and Callen noticed her hesitation.

"You okay honey?" Callen asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm good, I think."

"You don't have to go in if you don't want. We can always go somewhere else."

"No, it's okay. I'll be fine."

Joelle took a deep breath and walked inside. They put their stuff away and sat down on the couch together. Callen sat down on the part where the ottoman was attached and Joelle lay in between his legs with her back resting against Callen's chest. Callen wrapped his arms around her and rested them on her stomach.

"I'm glad you're here with me again G. I've missed you, and I've missed you next to me at night."

"I've missed you too. I'm glad to have you in my arms again."

"Yeah, your safe and strong arms," Joelle said as she snuggled against Callen.

"Yeah they will keep you both safe honey."

Callen gave Joelle a soft kiss on her head and turned the TV on. A little later Callen noticed that Joelle had fallen asleep. Callen stayed there, afraid he would wake Joelle up if he moved. He snuggled against her and fell asleep a little later too. They both slept for a few hours before Joelle woke up and needed to pee. Callen woke up when Joelle wanted to get up.

"Where are you going?" Callen asked.

"I need to pee."

Joelle gave Callen a quick kiss before she got up to go pee. When she returned to the couch Callen was sitting there with his laptop.

"I was just looking for some houses."

"And? Found anything interesting?"

"Yeah I think so."

"Does it have a playground and school close by?"

"Yes it has both. I've found houses in multiple neighborhoods in LA. All have a playground and school nearby. We still have the money we got from your house and we'll get some for this house. So I think we can afford these. It's about a thirty minute drive to our jobs."

"Well let's see what you've found. We also need a house that we can move in right away and don't have too much work to do cus I want to have it ready before the baby comes."

"I know."

Together they looked at the houses. Callen had found some houses. Each houses had a playground/park nearby. In the neighborhood were multiple elementary schools. Joelle wanted it to be close to the park so they could walk their with the baby.

"Now this one I thought was nice but it's on the Balboa Boulevard so it's a little bit busy in front of the house," Callen spoke as he showed Joelle the house.

"Yeah it does look nice yeah. But yeah a busy street. Let's see what others you have, maybe there's a better house."

They looked at the other houses Callen had found and narrowed their choice down to a couple of houses. They liked all the houses so they decided to make appointments with all of them, so they could see them in person and not just in pictures.

"Those houses really look nice," Joelle spoke. "I'm really looking forward to buying our house with you."

"Yeah, it's nice. It's nice to buy our house. Technically this is still my house since you moved in with me. It's nice to buy a house together."

"Yeah it is. These houses all look really nice. I wonder what they'll look like for real. Are you sure we can afford these?"

"Yes. We still have the money we got from selling your house and I checked online, there's this tool online where you can estimate the price of your house. Of course it's not one hundred percent right but it gives you an idea. Together with the money we got from your house we can afford these, plus we both have some money saved and we can put the rest in mortgage."

"Okay then, I can't wait. Hopefully we can move into those houses pretty soon."

"Yeah, we'll ask the realtor if we really like a house."

They contacted the realtor offices and made an appointment to visit the houses. They had four houses they really liked. One was a bit pricy but they could afford it with a higher mortgage. They liked this house so they would decide once they had seen all the houses. They had a house in Cypress, a house in Calabasas, a house in La Palma and a house in Van Nuys. They would visit the house in Cypress and the house in La Palma on Wednesday and the house in Calabasas and the house in Van Nuys on Saturday. They had arranged with the realtors that if they liked the house they had till Monday to decide.

….

That Monday Joelle went back to work. Callen was at home since he was recovering from his shooting. Callen dropped Joelle off at work and went back home. He dropped her off since they had a doctor's appointment after work so Callen would go pick Joelle up before going to the appointment.

Callen just relaxed around the house, he was still a little bit weak and tired from the surgery. He was beyond relieved that everything had turned out okay in the end. He had been so scared when he found out that Joelle had been taken. He was really glad that she and their baby boy were okay. That comatose dream he had was still playing in front of his mind. He really hoped nothing from that dream would happen for real. It was because of the dream that he had suggested that they should move, so that Joelle knew he wanted this for real. And he did, he wanted this. He wanted Joelle and their baby to feel safe at home when he wasn't there. He liked the idea of buying a house with Joelle, they could buy a little bit bigger house, a nice house for their baby to grow up in. The houses they had found were just perfect. He could picture them living in all of them. They were all in nice neighborhoods with a playground and/or park close by and schools nearby. All of them were about a half an hour drive to their jobs. They all were nice houses for their baby to grow up in.

Callen had never owned a house before this one, he liked living here and he liked living here with Joelle but it was nice to buy their house. Joelle contributed to the house as well of course, but technically it was still his house. Not that either one of them felt that way though. But it was nice to buy a house together, a nice family house. Callen couldn't wait for their little boy to arrive, he would just be so cute, Callen knew that. But he was also a bit scared of what it would be like with a little baby here. He never had a real father figure in his life. He hoped he would be good at it, he didn't want to let Joelle and their baby down. He vowed to himself that he would be the best father possible and that he made sure his kid had everything that he never had as a kid. He would make sure the kid grew up in a loving family environment.

Around 5pm Callen left to pick up Joelle. He went into the school to see how far she was.

"Hey honey," Callen called as he walked into the classroom.

"Hey baby."

Callen walked over to Joelle and gave her a kiss. "How was your day?"

"It was good. The kids were happy I was back again."

"That's good. You ready to go?"

"Yeah, just need to pack my things."

Joelle grabbed her bags and together with Callen she walked out. They got in the car and Callen drove them to the doctor's office. They sat in the waiting room until they were called in. Joelle was now twenty two weeks pregnant. Joelle sat down on the bed and they waited until the doctor walked in.

"Good evening," the doctor spoke as she walked in. "How are we doing today?"

"We are doing just fine."

"That's good. I've got the test results and everything is perfectly clear. You are both very healthy." Callen and Joelle were relieved to hear that. "Why don't you lay down so we can get started."

Joelle lay down on the bed and rolled up her shirt. Callen smiled when he saw her baby bump. She looked so cute with it. The doctor fired up the machine, put some gel on the wand and put the wand on Joelle's stomach. They immediately heard the baby's heartbeat. Callen loved that sound. It was so beautiful, their little boy's heartbeat.

"Is everything okay doctor?" Joelle asked.

"Yes, the baby is growing nice and big and everything looks good. Would you like to see a 3D image?"

"Yes please," Joelle spoke with a smile.

The doctor pressed some keys and Callen and Joelle looked at the screen. It was so beautiful to see their little boy like this. You could clearly see some shapes already.

"Look at that G, that's our little boy," Joelle spoke with a smile as she looked at Callen.

"Yes it is." Joelle could see the love spread across his face. "He's so beautiful."

"Yes he is."

The doctor took Joelle's vitals and weight. The doctor handed Joelle a picture of the ultrasound and a video of the 3D ultrasound. Joelle made an appointment for in three weeks on their way out. They picked up some fries and burgers before going home.

"It was so cute to see that 3D image," Callen spoke as they were eating.

"Oh yes it's really is. I can't wait to finally meet our little boy and hold him."

"I know me neither."

On Wednesday they went to visit the first two houses. Both appointments were in the late afternoon. Callen went to pick Joelle up from school and together they drove to the house. First they went to view the house in Cypress. When they pulled up to the house the realtor was waiting for them in front.

"Good afternoon, you must be Mr. and Mrs. Walinsky?" The realtor greeted them.

"I'm Mr. Walinsky," Callen replied. "We're not married, yet."

"Oh my mistake."

They shook hands before the realtor took them inside and showed them around. It looked nice. It had a driveway with garage and a front yard. It had wooden floors and white walls downstairs. It had a nice roomy kitchen and a nice big master bedroom. The house had five bedrooms and three bathrooms in total. The master bedroom had a balcony and an adjacent bathroom. The backyard had a pool, a bar with outdoor barbeque and a sitting area. It looked nice but they weren't sold on it immediately. They would see what the other houses looked like first. The house was on a quiet street. It was a ten minute walk to the park and the nearest school. Without traffic it was about a thirty/thirty-five minute drive to work. After they were finished with his house they drove to the house in La Palma. Another realtor was waiting for them here.

"Good afternoon," the realtor greeted them.

"Good afternoon," Callen and Joelle greeted back and they shook hands.

The realtor took them inside to show them around. It had a driveway with a garage and a yard out front. They had a covered doorway. The walls were light yellow downstairs and in the living room was carpet. The kitchen was roomy, not as big in the other house, but still big enough. The house had three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Outside they had a covered patio behind the house. On the left, when standing in the backyard looking at the house, they had some grass and on the right was a pool with some room for a sitting area. Callen and Joelle both liked this house. It looked really nice. It was about a fifteen minute walk to the playground/park and to the closets school. The house was in a quiet, dead-end street. It was about a thirty-five minute drive to their jobs, without traffic. This house was less expensive as the house in Cypress and they liked this house better so they decided on not choosing the house in Cypress. They would keep this house in their options until they had seen the other two houses.

"That second house was really nice," Joelle spoke as they were driving back home.

"Yeah it was. It looked nice and we have a big enough yard. Some grass where our little boy can play, a sitting area and a pool. And there's enough room around the pool to put a fence around it so our boy can't go it in."

"Yeah we do. And it's big enough for us and school and playground nearby. It's just a farther commute to our jobs than before."

"Yeah, but sometimes it takes about an hour too with the traffic. Here we are a bit outside the city so it might be less."

"Yeah that's true and it's a nice quiet neighborhood."

….

They went to the other two houses on Saturday afternoon. They went to the house in Calabasas first. This was the most expensive house. They greeted the realtor out front before going in. It had a driveway and garage in front with a yard. Above the garage was a balcony. Through some steps they walked up to the covered front door. The floors were dark wood and the walls were light greenish and white. The house had three bedrooms and three bathrooms. One part of the house was higher and the part behind the garage was the same height as the garage. In the lower room were sliding doors leading to the backyard. The lower part of the backyard had the pool. Outside were some steps leading to the higher part of the yard. Here was a sitting area with some grass. The master bedroom had access to the balcony and had an adjacent bathroom. It wasn't really much different to the house in La Palma, maybe it was a little bit bigger but it was more expensive and it was further away from the park. They decided on not choosing this house. They had one more house left. It was the house in Van Nuys. Callen and Joelle drove there next.

After greeting the realtor they went inside. This house was a little less expensive than the house in La Palma. The house had a garage on the side, it was on the corner of the street. It had a fenced off front yard with a pathway leading to the covered front door. The house had four bedrooms and three bathrooms. The backyard had a covered patio with a fence around it. In the rest of the backyard was a swimming pool. The master bedroom had an adjacent bathroom and a walk in closet. The kitchen was nice and roomy. The floors were wooden downstairs with light colored walls. Upstairs were also wooden floors. There was a big park with a playground nearby, it was about a thirty minute walk. In this park was a big playground near the lake. There was a smaller park nearby, it was about a fifteen minute walk. The closets school was about a seven minute walk. To their work it was about a twenty-five minute drive, without traffic. They liked both houses. The one in La Palma was a little bit more expensive and a little bit bigger than the one in Van Nuys but both were nice. Callen and Joelle still had a few days to decide on which house they would take.


	23. Chapter 23

"What house do you think we should buy?" Joelle asked Callen as they were having dinner.

"Both houses looked nice. The house in La Palma might be in a better location. It's at the end of a dead-end street. The house in Van Nuys is on the corner. I don't know how busy those streets around it are but they should be busier than the dead-end street. Plus we don't have a driveway there. The lot and house size are about the same. The house in Van Nuys has one bedroom more but I think I like the house in La Palma more. According to the realtor site the closest school is better than the closest school in Van Nuys. What do you think?"

"Yeah I think I like the house in La Palma too. It's a nice house and we have a bigger yard with some grass. The yard of the house in Van Nuys isn't that big and with the gate around the seating area, I just don't like the yard in that house. Plus the street in La Palma is quieter. And I think the house in La Palma looks better, according to the site, it's just recently renovated. We don't need to do much work on that house. Just maybe paint the nursery again. I think we have more work in the house in Van Nuys. I think we should go for the house in La Palma."

"Yeah I think so too and we already asked the realtor, we can move in not this Monday but the next Monday which is prefect. The house is a little bit more expensive but we can afford it."

"Yeah, so that house it is then?"

"Yes. It is. I'll call the realtor and I'll ask him if he can help us sell this house as well."

"Sure that's fine."

After dinner Callen picked up the phone and called the realtor. He would let the other people know that their house had been sold and tomorrow an appraiser would stop by to determine the price of their house.

"So that is done. The realtor would call us when the contract was ready so we can sign it."

"Alright that's fine."

"I'm really happy that we have a house together now."

"Yeah me too and we don't need to do so much so it's ready to move in."

"Yeah it is. When we get the key we'll get it ready and then on the weekend I will ask the team to come help move us."

"That's fine. Just don't do too much yourself, you're still recovery from the surgery you had."

"I know honey. I'll take it easy."

"Okay good."

"Just as long as you take it easy too. You can do too much either, no heavy lifting."

"I know, I promise."

"Okay good."

The next day Callen called Sam.

"Hey G," Sam picked up the phone.

"Hey Sam, guess what? Joelle and I bought a house."

"Really? That's nice. Where?"

"La Palma, Brian Lane to be exact. It's a beautiful house and it has a nice big yard with pool."

"That's great. Do you need some help to move?"

"Yeah, that's why I called. We're getting the key not this Monday but the next Monday. We thought about moving the big in that weekend. Can you come and help?"

"Yeah sure, I'll be there and I'm sure the rest of the team will be there too."

"Great, thanks Sam."

"No problem. I'm really happy for you and Joelle. How are you two doing?"

"We're doing just fine. Joelle had another doctor's appointment and everything looked good. The baby is growing nice and big."

"That's good. And with everything that happened?"

"We're fine Sam. We talked about it and we're good. I'm just glad everything turned out okay."

"Yeah me too. Congrats on the new house and I'll see you later."

"Thanks, yeah see you later."

"Be sure you take it easy G, you're recovery."

"I will Sam, I promise."

"Okay good. Bye."

"Bye."

..

Next weekend Callen and Joelle went to the store. They bought some new wallpaper for the nursery and some more light green paint. They went to Walmart to buy some new things for the house. They didn't need much since they still had a lot of furniture at home. Callen only had bought those about a year ago.

They bought a Cosco outdoor Jamaica 4-piece resin wicker patio conversation set in brown with light blue cushion. The set had a two-seater, two arm chairs and a table. They also bought a Better homes and gardens Saxil Bay faux resin wood 7-piece dining set, a table with six chairs, a six wrought iron chair pad from the same brand, the chair pads were light blue with seashells on them, a Yescom 9ft wooden outdoor blue patio umbrella with a stand, two blue pillows for in the outdoor sofa, a Jack Post natural finish porch bench swing, a wooden wheelbarrow to put flowers in, a better homes and gardens ironwork printed aqua with white window curtain for in the living room and for in their bedroom a darkening mocha curtain panel, a palm trees by the sea, set of two wall art for on the wall in the living room between the front door and the window, a trademark art dream bouquet canvas art by Shelia Golden in the size 18x18 and from the same series the vibrant bouquet in the same size for on the wall left of the front door, an iconic canvas set of four wall art with the Eiffel tower, Colosseum, the dome of the Sistine chapel and the tower of Pisa in black and white and sorta post stamp look for the wall on the landing of the stairs, a Convenience concepts boulevard console table black with two shelves for against the long wall left of the front door and a half round planter basket for one the garage wall near the door, for on the edge of the wall of the garden near the pool a log with three turtles on them and LED light shells, an Alpine deer with fawn statue and a zingz and thingz curious squirrel garden statue, a sandicast small size white tiger cub sculpture for on the windowsill outside on the front, a lazy days of summer black bear with raccoons LED solar lantern welcome sign, an Evergreen enterprises inc. 11" metal butterfly finial set of two and three Robert Allen 4.5" yellow planter. They paid for everything. The patio conversation set, the dining set, patio umbrella, porch swing, console table and curtains were going to be delivered to their house not this Thursday but the next Thursday. The other stuff they could take home already.

…

That Monday an appraiser came by their house. Callen showed him around and he took notes. The realtor would contact them later to officially put the house for sale. Tuesday they could go by the realtor's office to sign the papers of the new house and they would get the keys on Monday. Both Callen and Joelle were really looking forward to move into their new home. It would just be perfect. During the week they already packed up some stuff already. They would get the key on Monday and then during the week they would get the house ready and move some small stuff over and then in the weekend the team was coming by to help them move the big stuff.

"Hey G," Joelle spoke as they were having dinner. "With everything that happened we haven't really talked about our wedding yet."

"No we haven't. When would you like to get married, before or after the baby is born?"

"I think after. If we do it before it's only a short time to get everything done so I think it's better to do it after."

"Sure that's fine with me."

"And then wait until at least our little boy is a few months old."

"The baby will be here late September, early October so what about April or May, our little boy will be around seven months then."

"Yeah, I think that's perfect. A nice spring wedding."

"Now we just need to find a perfect location."

"Well I sorta have one already, if it's available and you like it. I always dreamed of getting married there, a friend of mine got married there and it was so beautiful. I'll show you the location after dinner."

"Sure that's fine."

Once they were done cleaning up after dinner Joelle grabbed her laptop and showed Callen the wedding venue.

"Oh, it's beautiful. I think this would be perfect for our wedding," Callen stated.

"Yeah I think so too. Shall I give them a call to see if they are available around April/May?"

"Yeah sure."

Joelle grabbed the phone and dialed the number that was on the website. There was an opening on the twenty-sixth of April and then nothing till June so Callen and Joelle decided on April twenty-six for their wedding.

"I can't believe we've set a date," Callen remarked once Joelle had hung up the phone.

"I know me neither, but I'm really happy about it."

"Me too. Just think about it, we'll be getting married then with our little boy there."

"Yeah it'll be perfect."

"Yes it will."

Callen leaned closer to Joelle and kissed her. Callen pulled her onto his lap with her legs on one side as he continued to kiss her.

"I love you Grisha," Joelle whispered against his lips.

"I love you too Joelle."

Callen wanted to pick her up and take her to the bedroom but he knew it wouldn't be good for his wounds.

"Want to join me in the bedroom?" Callen asked in a cheeky tone.

"You sure you're up for that?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. We'll take it easy."

"Well in that case." Joelle stood up and extended her hand. "Join me in the bedroom."

"Gladly."

All kissing they walked to the bedroom. Callen carefully lowered Joelle onto the bed and got in next to her. They lay kissing for a while as their clothes were removed. Callen started pleasuring Joelle with his hand. Her pregnancy hormones were in full overdrive already. Callen didn't have to do much. Joelle pushed Callen onto his back and made sure he was ready for her before sinking down on him. Callen helped Joelle move up and down. It felt so good to make love. Joelle got orgasm after orgasm, it was just so good what Callen was doing. She was about to get her sixth orgasm of the night when Callen joined her. Exhausted she collapsed down next to Callen on the bed.

"Wow," Joelle uttered.

"Yeah wow is right. That was really good."

They dressed in their pajamas went to sleep.

…

That Monday they got the key to their new house, they went in the afternoon after Joelle was finished with work. Their old house was already sold too. The day they had put it up for sale someone already wanted to come visit it and they bought it too. They were glad that their old house was sold as well.

After picking up the key from the realtor's office they went to their new house, with some boxes already. They drove down to La Palma via de 105 and then onto the 605 before taking the exit towards Artesia Freeway. They followed the east lane. They followed this road till exit twenty. They took a right and then left onto Walker street and then a left onto Conifer drive and then a left onto Brian Lane. The house was at the end of this street. In the driveway was enough room for two cars. Behind the driveway was a garage. On the left was a gate leading to the backyard. On the right was an piece of grass with a big tree on it. Between the driveway and the grass was the pathway leading to the front door. Callen parked his car in the driveway before getting out. They walked up to the house. The doorway was covered. They had the wall of the garage on the left and on the right were some bushes and behind that a patio in front of the front window with a windowsill in front of the window. They came into a step with tiles. To the right was the living area down the steps. At the end of the steps was the dining area and kitchen. Halfway down the steps were the stairs with a landing in between the two stairs. The living room had a fireplace in it. Underneath the stairs was an open space. The roof was already a bit upwards in the living room. The living room roof was high leading up to the second floor. In the back part of the house the roof was lower. Straight of the front door, at the back of the house was the dining area and the kitchen. Just before the steps ended was a door leading to the garage. Down the steps on the left, behind the garage, was a sort of living area too. The previous owners used that as a TV corner. Here was another door leading to the garage and sliding doors leading to the back yard. The kitchen was behind the living room. It was a spacious kitchen in a bit of a U-shape with some cabinets also against the wall to the living room. The cabinets were light wood with a white with gray specks countertop. The kitchen had a dishwasher, microwave, a stove with oven underneath and a fridge with freezer. Behind the dining area were sliding doors leading to the covered patio. The kitchen had a window into the backyard. From the point of view behind the house the backyard had a covered patio on the left side of the house, on the left side was a piece of grass with some plants and trees around it and on the right side was the spacious pool with against the back of the yard some plants and trees. On the right side of the house was a small piece with small stones in it and the rest was paved. They would put a fence on the right side of the patio so they baby couldn't go to the pool area. The backside of the yard had a stoned fence and the rest of the yard had high bushes. Inside and upstairs to the right of the stairs was a bedroom. In the corners, one overlooking the stairs and the other overlooking the living room where blinds which could be opened as doors. Each bedroom had its own bathroom. This bedroom was square with a window on the side of the house. The bathroom had a vanity, a toilet and a combo tub/shower. On the left side of the stairs, party above the garage was another bedroom. It was a rectangle shape with a square piece at the back of the room. The bathroom had a vanity, toilet and combo tub/shower. The master bedroom was at the back of the house. It was nice and spacious with two build-in closets with sliding door with mirrors. To the left of the closet was the bathroom. It had a vanity on the right side and behind that a toilet. In the left far corner was a spacious shower. On the left side of the bathroom was a part of the bedroom as well. Every room had ceiling spots lights. Callen and Joelle would take the master bedroom and they would use the bedroom partly above the garage as the nursery. The house had air conditioning, vaulted ceiling, double-pane windows and a security system. They would leave the rest of the house as it was and only just redid the room for the nursery. They really both liked they house and they could picture them living here. They pulled the stuff they had taken with them inside. Joelle went to clean the kitchen as Callen went upstairs to start on the nursery. He put some plastic on the floor so the carpet wouldn't get dirty. He got the paint ready and started painting. He only did one wall today. Once Joelle was done in the kitchen they went back to their old house.

The rest of the week, after Joelle was off from work they went to the new house to get it ready. When the weekend came the house was ready to move in. On Saturday the entire team was at the house early to help Callen and Joelle move. Callen had rented a van to transport the big stuff in. Callen and Joelle loaded some boxes and some light stuff into the car. They left all the heavy lifting to the others. Once Callen's and Joelle's car were both loaded full and the van as well they left for the new house. By coincidence Joelle was in front of Callen when they drove over the crossing once their light had turned green. Callen noticed a car speeding towards the intersection from the right side.


	24. Chapter 24

Immediately flashes of his comatose dream appeared in front of his eyes. Callen accelerated so his car was on the right side of Joelle's car, just in case. The speeding car just past behind them. Luckily Sam had seen it too, Sam was driving the van, and he hit the brake. The speeding car did miss Callen's and Joelle's car but it crashed against a car coming from the other direction. The speeding car hit the tail of that car, sending it spiraling over the intersection. The speeding car crashed into a parked car. Callen and Joelle had seen what had happened so they stopped their cars. Callen got out of his car and immediately went to Joelle.

"You okay Jo?" Callen asked concerned as he checked her over.

"Yeah, I'm good. You?"

"I'm good to."

Callen watched as Kensi and Deeks made their way over to the speeding car, weapons drawn. Sam made his way over to the car that got hit. A little later there were paramedics, firemen and cops on the scene. After giving their statement everyone got back in their cars and drove off. Callen and Joelle carried some stuff inside but left all the heavy stuff to the others. Callen and Joelle felt bad for not being able to help so much but the others assured them it wasn't a problem. Kensi, Nell, Michelle and Eric stayed at the new house while Sam and Deeks drove between the houses to pick up stuff. The stuff that they had bought had already been delivered. Eric was busy hooking their electronics up. They hung the TV up above the fireplace and put the couch directly across from it, just down the steps leading into the living area. The matching arm chair was placed in the right corner, right of the fireplace. The coffee table stood in between the couch and fireplace and the side table stood next to the arm chair. There was a small piece of living area leading towards the kitchen, they put the half round table with mirror above it against the wall of the stairs and the console table was placed against the long wall left of the front door with the bouquet paintings above it. The dining table with chairs was placed directly down from the front door, down in the kitchen area, the kitchen was to the right. The bed was placed immediately right of the door across from the build-in closet, with the nightstands on either side of the bed and the curtains were hung up in front of the windows. The wardrobe they had in their old bedroom was placed in spare bedroom, the one above the living area. The stuff for the nursery was put in the bedroom partly above the garage. The crib was put around the corner, parallel to the wall with the door in it. The closet stood immediately right of the door with the backside against the right wall. The hoop glider stood in the right far corner, the changing table stood behind the closet and was underneath the window and the storage cabinet stood at the back wall, right across from the crib.

Sam was busy out front putting a wooden frame up for the porch swing. Their porch, in front of the window, wasn't covered so Sam was building a wooden frame to hang the porch bench swing on. Sam built the frame near the end of the porch, on the right front side of the house. Callen was busy with decorating the front side of the house. They had bought some plants as well so Callen filled the planters with dirt and then the plants. He hung the half round planter basket on the outside wall of the garage, left of the front door. He hung the basket just above the mail box. The two butterflies were hung up against the wall as well, one a bit down the left upper corner and the other one below that and a little to the right. The welcome sign was placed against the right beam of the covered doorway. On the windowsill Callen placed the white tiger cub sculpture and the three yellow planters with plants in them. In the backyard Deeks and Kensi were putting up the conversation and dining set. They put the dining set underneath the covert patio and the conversation set was placed, from behind the house, the right side of the house near the pool with the umbrella covering the conversation set. The log with turtles, the deer with fawn and the squirrel statues were placed on the edge of the wall of the garden near the pool. Callen and Joelle already had some planters and pots in their old house so Kensi and Deeks were busy putting those around the yard and also the wooden wheelbarrow.

Inside Joelle and Nell were busy unpacking the boxes of the kitchen. Nell had cleaned the kitchen and was helping Joelle put the heavier stuff in the cupboards and the stuff on the higher shelves.

Around six everyone sat down to the eat the pizzas that had been ordered and the last few things were put in the right place or unpacked. There were still some things left but Callen and Joelle could do that themselves. Callen and Joelle thanked everyone for their help before they went home.

"Well this is nice," Callen stated as they sat on the couch together.

"Yeah it is. The house looks really nice."

"Yeah it really does. I'm really happy to be here with you."

"Me too G, me too."

Callen sat on the part of the couch with the ottoman and Joelle lay in between his legs, with her back against Callen's chest.

"You okay honey? Today wasn't too much for you?" Callen asked.

"No it was just fine. I didn't do any heaving lifting."

"Alright that's good."

"Can't believe we almost got hit today by that stupid car when we were driving here."

"Yeah, stupid driver," Callen replied, immediately having flashes of his comatose dream.

"Yeah, he was crazy. Luckily no one really got hurt." Joelle said but Callen was too deep in thought. Joelle turned around a bit so she could face Callen. "G?" Callen didn't respond. "Grisha, you okay?"

Callen shook out of his trance. "Yeah I'm good."

"What's going on honey?"

"Nothing, I'm fine. It's nothing."

"Something is clearly bothering you, I can tell. What's going on honey? You can tell me anything."

Callen sighed deeply. He really didn't want to tell Joelle about the comatose dream he had but it was still bugging him. "Remember when I woke up in the hospital and said I thought I had this dream where I thought I had lost you and our little boy."

"Yeah, I remember that but don't worry honey, that's not gonna happen."

"I hope so, I just can't help but still picture the dream sometimes. Like this morning when we almost had that car accident."

"What does a car accident have to do with you comatose dream?"

Maybe talking about it would help him get rid of the images. "Well, my dream happened after the shooting as well. You had stayed with Sam as well but in my dream you were the one suggesting to move. I agreed to move but as we were looking at houses I somehow always found something wrong with the house. You confronted me with it. We had a fight and you left. You got in your car and I followed you. We drove across an intersection and another car crashed against your car sending you rolling over the street and you ended up against a pole. I quickly got out of the car and made my way over to you, you were unconscious. Before I knew it paramedics were at the scene and they worked on you. I stood there watching, hoping you two would be alright. Then….." Callen spoke tears forming in his eyes.

"What happened G? You can tell me honey."

"They couldn't safe you or the baby anymore. You had both died. I was so angry at that moment that I shot and killed the driver of the other car and I ended up in jail."

"Oh honey."

"I have no idea why I had that kind of dream. I honestly have no idea. The last thing about the dream I remember is being in jail with my eyes closed then the next minute I was in the hospital and I saw you lying there on the couch. I was so relieved you and our little boy were alright. I really thought I had lost you two."

Joelle placed her hand on his cheek. "We're still here honey, both me and our little boy are doing fine. You haven't lost us and you're not going to lose us."

"I don't want that to happen but when we were at the intersection this morning and I saw that car speeding your way I got so scared that the comatose dream was coming true."

"I get that honey but we're both okay. We're still here, nothing happened. I promise you I'll be careful in traffic okay. Your dream won't come true. It was just a bad comatose dream you had."

"I don't understand why I had that kind of dream. I don't want anything like that to happen."

"Sometimes we dream about the strangest things, that doesn't make them real. Both me and our little boy are fine honey, nothing is gonna happen to us."

"I'm really glad to have you two in my life and I don't want anything to happen to you. And I'm really happy to be living here in this new house with you."

"Is it because of the comatose dream that you suggested we'd move?"

"Yeah sorta, I had been thinking about it before everything happened as well. But yeah I did ask you then because of the dream I had. Trust me, I wanted to move and I wanted you to know I really wanted to so I asked you. I really want this honey, I'm glad we have this house. It's a perfect family home for us, our little boy will be very happy here. It was the next logical step. Don't worry honey, I really want this. I didn't just do it because of the dream I had."

"Okay good and yeah it's the perfect family home. Our little boy will grow up nicely here."

Callen looked down lovingly at Joelle. Joelle was hanging back in his arms with her face towards him. "I love you Jo," Callen spoke in a passionate voice.

"I love you too G."

"I'm really happy here with you and our little boy and to be your husband soon."

Joelle sat up a bit and kissed Callen. Callen held her tighter and kissed her back. He loved this woman so much and he was very happy to be here with her and their little boy. He couldn't wait to meet the little guy. They just watched some TV before going to bed. Joelle was already in bed when Callen joined her.

"Our first night in our new home," Callen spoke as he crawled closer to Joelle.

"Yes it is," Joelle replied with a smile.

"How about we Christen this house?" Callen suggested with a cheeky voice.

"Oh, I like the way you think."

Callen kissed Joelle and clothes were discarded and thrown across the room. Exhausted after a few rounds they lay on the bed after getting dressed into their pajamas and they fell asleep.

The next day they unpacked the rest of the boxes. Callen hung up the curtains in the living area, the holes had already been made and the pole ends had been hung on the wall, the curtain just had to be put on the pole and then the pole needed to be put in the pole ends. The four canvas arts of the Eiffel tower, Colosseum, Sistine chapel and tower of Pisa were hung up against the wall on the landing of the stairs and the two palm trees paintings were hung up against the wall between the front door and the front window. They already had some decorations in their old house so they placed those around the house. They really liked how the house looked. The spare bedroom, the one just above the living area, they used as a storage and washing room. The washing machine and dryer stood downstairs in the garage but they would use this room to dry the wash and iron/fold them. They finished unpacking the last of the boxes. They really liked how the house looked. They couldn't wait for their little boy to join them here.

After dinner they went to Kmart to buy some more stuff. They went to the Kmart in Long Beach, it was open till 10pm so they had some time. They bought a furniture of America tressa modern dark wood vanity set with stool for in their bedroom, a Dorel home furnishings Emily chaise lounge in navy colors for in the bedroom, a prepac white entryway cubbie shelf with coat rack, an essential home family collage wall picture frame, a Crystocraft orchid butterfly figurine, a Cyrstocraft mini doves and heart figurine, a Crystocraft five tulips in crystal vase figurine, a watercolor striped wooden tray, two small white vases with blue and green mosaic on it and an illuminate fragrance wax warmer Americana.

They dropped by the baby department too.

"Aww look how cute G," Joelle spoke as she looked through the baby clothes.

"Yeah, they are so cute. We can buy some clothes already, we know it's gonna be a boy so."

"Yeah, they all look so cute, all these clothes."

"Yeah they do. Our little boy will look great in them."

They bought a footed white pajama with bear paws on them and bears on the feet, a grey pajama with Mickey Mouse on the shirt with lil' man in charge and a white, green, grey and blue striped pants and in the same print a hat with a little Mickey Mouse on it, a white footed pajamas with blue ends and circus animals on it, a button down grey blouse with pineapples on it with a pair of blue shorts and in the same print as the blouse a cap, a gray, white and blue plaid shortalls with a Mickey Mouse on it and a blue shirt, a Gerber infant's 5-pack bodysuits with bears, a 3-pack Mickey Mouse bodysuit, a red bodysuit with daddy's little dude on it, white plush baby slippers with a bear on it, a Gerber newborn boy's 5-pack beanie hats cute, a Mickey Mouse 2-packs bibs, a Gerber infants 3-pack terry bibs cutie, a bear rattle, a plush hedgehog and plush tiger, a baby essentials infant boy's twelve picture collage picture frame with animals on it and in the middle a round frame with the text my first year and around that eleven pictures frames , one for each month, a magic years baby's hand and foot print kit with two round picture frames and a wavery baby by trend lab two picture frames, one with animals and one with animal prints. They went to the register and paid for everything. The vanity set and chaise lounge would be delivered to their house in two weeks. The other stuff they could take home already.

Callen loaded everything in the bags and put them in the car. Once home they took the stuff inside and put everything away. The Crystocraft figurines they placed on the console table alone with the wooden tray. On the wooden tray they placed the two small white vases and the wax warmer. The tulip figurine was a glass-like metallic vase with five tulips in it with each a different color gem in it. The butterfly figurine was a glass-like metallic butterfly on a sort of stick with purple gems in the upper wings and purple and pink gems on the bottom wings and two pink gems on the feelers. The doves figurine was a glass-like metallic figurine with two doves with light pink gems in their belly standing on an open heart with a pink/red gem in it. The coat rack they hung up just left of the front door against the long wall.

The next morning Callen was up early since he had go back to work again.

"You sure you're good to go back to work again?" Joelle asked as they were getting dressed.

"Positive, I feel fine. I do have a checkup with the doctor this morning but I'm sure he'll clear me."

"Alright, just take it easy."

"I will honey, I promise."

"Okay good."

They went downstairs and had breakfast together before leaving the house.

"Text me when you're done with your checkup," Joelle spoke as they were walking to their cars.

"I will honey." Callen gave Joelle a kiss. "Have a good day honey." Callen bent down and placed a kiss on Joelle's stomach. "Bye little baby, be good to mommy today." Callen gave Joelle another kiss. "Bye honey."

"Bye baby."

They both got in their cars and drove away. Callen first went to the hospital to have a checkup. He was cleared for work again so after the doctor's appointment he drove to work after sending Joelle a text.

"Morning," Callen spoke as he walked into the bullpen, the others were there already.

"Morning," Sam, Kensi and Deeks replied.

"Cleared for work?" Sam asked.

"Yep go to go again. Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"

"Nah not much. How's the new house?"

"It's just perfect. We bought some more stuff yesterday and finished unpacking and hanging up the last things. It's just perfect. I'm really happy to be living there together with Joelle."

"I'm happy for the two of you."

"Thanks."

Suddenly they heard Eric's whistling on the top of the stairs. "Hey Callen, welcome back."

"Hey Eric."

"We have a case everyone."

They all got up and walked up to the OPS.

"Hey Callen, welcome back," Nell greeted him.

"Hey Nell, it's good to be back. What do we have?"

"Surfers found this body on the beach early this morning," Eric spoke as he put a few pictures on the screen.

"No blood around the body so probably a body dump," Deeks stated.

"You are correct. We looked at the cameras, luckily there was one in the parking lot closest to this point." Eric played the camera footage. "As you can see a car pulls up and two men drag the body over to the beach. Now unfortunately they never show their faces on camera and the car was a rental and no ID on our victim yet."

"Kensi, Deeks, you guys check out the rental company. Sam and I will check out the crime scene. Eric, Nell, see what you can find out more about these guys. See where they came from, maybe we get lucky and they show their faces or who this guy on the beach it."

"You got it," the tech replied.

With everyone knowing what to do they went to work. Callen and Sam got in Sam's car and drove to the beach.

"So how's Joelle doing?" Sam asked as they were driving.

"She's doing just fine. We've actually set a wedding date, April twenty-six but you'll get an official invitation for that."

"That's great. I'm happy for you two."

"Thanks, I really am happy with her. I can't wait to meet the little baby."

"It's really special G, there's nothing like seeing your baby for the first time."

"I just hope I don't screw it up."

"You won't G, you can always ask me for advice and I'll be there to kick your ass if you do screw up," Sam spoke with a smile.

"Thanks Sam," Callen replied with a smile.

Sam parked his car near the beach and they walked onto the crime scene after showing their credentials. LAPD had done a canvas of the neighborhood, hoping somebody had seen something last night but no luck. The surfers that found the body didn't know anything more. Callen and Sam looked at the surfer suspiciously as they questioned them, something just seemed off about them. Sam told the LAPD officer to keep an eye on them as Callen and Sam went to inspect the body.

Suddenly they heard gunfire around them.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: I decided to change the date of the wedding to April 29. My story takes place in 2016/2017 and in 2017 April 26 was on a Wednesday, so I changed it to April 29.**

* * *

Callen and Sam looked around them as they grabbed their guns. They noticed that a LAPD officer was down. They looked around and saw that the surfers each had a gun in their hands.

"Federal agents! Put the guns down!" Callen yelled as he and Sam pointed their weapons at them.

They wanted to shoot at Callen and Sam but they were faster and shot them, making them go down on the ground. They quickly went over to them and cleared them of their weapons. Both were hit in the arm. The EMT's were quickly at the scene and they took the LAPD officer that was shot to the hospital. He needed surgery. Both shooters were patched up before Callen and Sam took them to the boatshed.

As the surfers were being patched up Callen and Sam looked at the body. Callen found something in his pocket. It was a piece of paper. Callen opened it and there was some writing on it.

"What do you have G?" Sam questioned.

"It think this guy was a federal agent." Callen read the note. "This is what happens when you send someone in to infiltrate our operations."

"Not good."

"No, not good."

Once the surfers where patched up Sam and Callen took them to the boatshed. Callen put one in the downstairs interrogation room and Sam took the other to the other interrogation room.

"You can't keep me here! You shot me! I need medical attention!" The guy complained to Callen.

"You'll live. You're in very big trouble," Callen replied as he sat down on the chair. "You shot a LAPD officer at a crime scene! Not your best move buddy. Why did you do it huh? Did you have something to do with the dead body? Figure if you were the ones that found him we wouldn't suspect you? Very bad move. Now you best tell us what you know. We're interrogating your buddy too, guess what happens if you talks before you do. Who do you think will get the better deal?"

"I want a lawyer."

"You best choice is to cooperate with us."

"Lawyer."

"Find suit yourself. But you're not getting out of here before you talk to us," Callen said and he stood up to leave the room.

"You can't leave me in here, I need medical attention."

"You've already had medical attention."

"No man, I need a hospital."

"You'll live," Callen spoke and he left the room. Just as Callen walked into the main room Sam walked in too. "Did your guy talk?"

"Nope, kept telling me he needed to go to the hospital."

"Mine too. Who are these guys?"

"I have no idea but they are involved somehow, otherwise they wouldn't have started shooting."

"Yeah, I already got a weird vibe from them when we talked to them."

"Yeah me too."

Eric's face popped up on the screen. "Hey guys," Eric spoke.

"Hey Eric, did you find out who the two guys are?" Callen asked.

"Yeah, their names are Pablo Sanchez and Javier Salazar. They both have connection to a Mexican cartel," Eric spoke as he put the ID's on the screen.

"After you send us that note we looked into federal agents and cops who have people undercover. We were able to ID our victim. His name is Bob Stevens, he is one of us."

"He's NCIS?" Callen questioned.

"Yes he is Mr. Callen," Hetty spoke as she appeared on the screen. "He was working an undercover case in Mexico trying to infiltrate a cartel. The cartel was suspected of having stolen military grade weapons. He was undercover with a DEA agent. I had contact with the DEA office and they have not heard of their agent. He missed his check-in last night. Now given what has happened to our agent it doesn't look good for the DEA agent."

"We'll find out what happened Hetty. We have two men in custody who know more but they refuse to talk."

"Keep at it gentlemen, we need to find out what happened and if the DEA agent is still alive."

"Have Kensi and Deeks found anything at the rental company?"

"No, they paid in cash and just rented the car for a day," Nell said. "We haven't had any luck getting their faces on camera."

"Someone from NCIS and someone from the DEA are coming to the boatshed to brief you all on the case," Hetty spoke.

"Alright, keep searching, maybe we'll get lucky," Callen said before he cut the feed.

A little later two agents showed up at the boatshed and they briefed Callen and Sam on the case. They had no idea if the DEA agent was still alive.

"Mind if we question your suspects?" The DEA agent asked.

"Have at it. They didn't talk to us," Callen replied.

The NCIS agent went to the guy in the downstairs interrogation room and the DEA agent went to the other. Callen and Sam watched the feed from the main room. The two suspects didn't talk to them either. As the two agents stepped back into the main room Eric's face popped up on screen.

"What's up Eric?" Callen asked.

"NCIS just received this video. It is concerning the DEA agent."

"Play it," Sam said.

Eric played the video and they saw a heavily beaten man sitting on the chair.

"Oh god, that's Jay," the DEA agent spoke.

A man appeared on the screen with a bandana in front of his mouth. He spoke with a heavy Spanish accent. "As you probably know by now you saw what we do with people trying to infiltrate our operations. And now we've noticed you sent in two. Are you really that stupid?! You've just killed two of your agents. This one is still alive. We're gonna have some fun with him first before we kill him. I'll send you the video once it over so you can enjoy it. Hopefully you'll get that message and don't send anyone else in. It won't work, they'll end up like the others."

The feed cut out.

"Eric, see what you can find out about that video. See if you can find a location," Callen spoke.

"On it," came the reply from the tech and he cut the feed.

"We've gotta find him before it's too late," the DEA agent spoke.

"We will sir," Sam told him. "Do you know how they got made?"

"No, Jay's last check-in was just normal. He didn't suspect that anything was wrong. Maybe he was followed or something, I don't know. He didn't speak of it during our last contact."

"What about Bob?" Callen asked the NCIS agent.

"No, nothing either. Everything was going according to plan. He was earning the trust of the others and they let him do more and more. I have no idea how they could have found out."

"We need a list of all the people who had access to this case, maybe you have a mole."

"I doubt that," the DEA agent spoke.

"You might not but we need to check everything out," Sam said.

Callen and Sam stayed at the boatshed to keep contact with the two other agents. A little later Eric and Nell's faces popped up on screen again.

"What do you have?" Sam asked.

"We have a location of where the video was shot," Eric said. "It's a warehouse just across the border, on the outside of Tijuana." Eric showed the location on the map.

"That's one of the places we suspect belongs to the cartel," the NCIS agent spoke.

"Do you know if they are still there?"

"There aren't any cameras in the area but I did get heat signatures. According to that six people are in the building."

"Alright, tell Hetty we're gonna need a chopper."

A little later Callen, Sam, Kensi, Deeks, the NCIS and DEA agent boarded the chopper and flew to Mexico. An hour and a half later they were in Mexico. They landed a little outside the city and they were picked up by some DEA agents of the Mexico office and some NCIS agents of the San Diego office. They quickly made a plan before going to the warehouse. They checked the surroundings before they moved to breached. Sam and Callen went to the front with some more agents as Kensi and Deeks went to the back with some agents.

"Move in on my count," Callen spoke. "Three, two, one."

They all breached with their rifles drawn.

"Federal agents!" They yelled.

They immediately had to duck away from flying bullets. Whenever they could they fired back. After a few minutes of heavy gunfire all the bad guys were down. With their weapons drawn the agents walked closer. Callen and Sam went to check out the rest of the building. They found the DEA agent in a closed room, heavily beaten.

"Get the paramedics in here," Sam shouted.

The paramedics were standing by outside already but waited until it was cleared. They quickly came in and took the DEA agent away. The bad guys who were still alive were taken away as well. In the warehouse they found the military grade weapons and the drugs.

Once everything was wrapped up the DEA thanked them for their assistance and they flew back to LA.

"Well done everyone," Hetty spoke as they walked in. "I just got word that agent Jay Williams will make a full recovery and the LAPD officer that was shot at the beach will be fine as well."

"That's good to know," Sam stated.

The agents finished up the paperwork before going back home. When Callen pulled up to the house Joelle was already there.

"Hey honey," Callen spoke as he walked in.

"Hey G, I'm in the kitchen."

Callen walked to the kitchen where Joelle was preparing dinner. "Hey baby."

"Hey honey."

Callen walked up to Joelle and gave her a kiss. "Hey my little guy," Callen spoke to Joelle's stomach and gave it a kiss. "How was your day today?"

"It was just fine, not too busy. How about yours?"

"Fine too, we had to go to Mexico briefly but everything turned out well."

"That's good. Dinner is almost ready."

"That's great, it smells delicious."

Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before he went to set the table.

…

That weekend they went over to the wedding venue to look at it. They already had the option for April twenty-nine but they still could say no to it if they didn't like the venue. But it looked very beautiful in the pictures so they were sure it would be just fine. The venue looked even better in the pictures. They would have the ceremony outside and the reception inside. It was so beautiful. Callen and Joelle could totally see themselves getting married here. They went over the things with the coordinator in terms of flowers, decorations, dinner, snacks and such. It would be totally beautiful, Callen and Joelle were sure of that. After they had gone over everything Callen and Joelle went back home. They could come by the venue again early April to make sure everything would be perfect.

"That was really beautiful," Callen stated once they were in the car. "It's just gonna be perfect."

"Yeah it will be. My friend had her wedding there and it was just so beautiful. I immediately knew I wanted to get married there. It will look so beautiful."

"Yes it will and we'll be getting married," Callen spoke as he flashed her a smile.

"Yes we will." Joelle smiled back. "With our little boy there."

"Yeah, it's gonna be beautiful. Maybe he can even take a few steps by someone's hand then."

"Yeah perhaps, that would be so cute, him in his cute little suit."

"Oh yes, just perfect."

Once home they had some sat at the dinner table to make invitations. They made their own invitations and RSVP cards. The invitations were white with on the sides some butterflies and flowers. In the middle stood the text:

We invite you to join us in celebration

For the wedding of

Joelle & Grisha

Saturday April 29

Two thousand and seventeen

Two o'clock in the afternoon

Disneyland hotel

1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Rose Court Garden

Dinner & Dancing To Follow

At Sleeping Beauty Pavilion

It was just perfect. They really looked beautiful. They ordered from the same series also reception invitations card for Joelle's colleagues and RSVP cards for everyone so they would know how many people would attend. Everyone at the ceremony was also invited for the reception. Callen and Joelle both liked how they looked.

...

Today Joelle had another doctor's appointment. She was now twenty five weeks pregnant. Joelle was already on Summer holiday. It was now the end of June. Callen had to work two more weeks and then he would have three weeks off. School would start again on August sixteen. Joelle would work for a few more weeks then before going on maternity leave starting September fifth, she was due on October eight.

Joelle had made the appointment late in the afternoon. Luckily Callen was off already so he went with her.

"Hey honey," Callen greeted her as he walked into the waiting room. They drove here separately since Callen came straight from work.

"Hey baby," Joelle greeted him back.

Callen sat down next to Joelle and gave her a kiss and gave her stomach a kiss too. "How was your day?"

"It was just fine, did some grocery shopping and just relaxed around the house."

"That's good."

"How about yours?"

"Just the usually, nothing exciting."

A few minutes later they were called into the office. Callen helped Joelle onto the bed.

"Good afternoon, how are we feeling today?" The doctor asked.

"We're doing just fine," Joelle answered.

"Why don't you lay down so I can examine you."

Joelle lay down on the bed as the doctor got everything ready. She put the wand on Joelle's stomach and she and Callen immediately saw their little boy on the screen and heard his heartbeat. Callen and Joelle both looked at the screen. It was so beautiful to see their little baby like that, they both couldn't wait to meet him.

"Is everything okay doctor?" Joelle asked.

"Yes everything is fine. He's growing nice and big and everything looks good."

Callen and Joelle were very pleased to hear that. The doctor took Joelle's vitals and weight. She gave them a picture of the ultrasound and Joelle made an appointment for two weeks from now and one for four weeks after that. She would have another appointment before they would leave for vacation and then another when her doctor would be back from vacation.

Once home Joelle added the picture in the baby book. She had put all the ultrasound pictures in there. It was so nice to see their baby growing. Everything at the house was ready for the little guy's arrival. Joelle just hoped Callen wouldn't be away on a case when she would go into labor, she needed him there then. Once Callen had made dinner they sat down outside to eat.

"Are you sure you're okay to go on vacation? We can still cancel it," Callen said.

"I'll be fine honey. If something gets too much for me I will tell you."

"Okay. This will probably be the last time it's just you and me on vacation. Unless we go on a honeymoon, the two of us."

"I don't know, I haven't really thought about that yet. I don't know if I can then, leave our little boy here while we go on a honeymoon."

"Yeah, that probably will be hard. But it would be nice. But we can always decide it then. There's always something available. Or maybe we'll make it a nice family vacation."

"Yeah, but I'll have to wait till the summer cus I don't have any more vacations until June sixteen."

"Yeah me neither. I have three weeks off in July, just like this year."

"Yeah, we'll see it then if we go somewhere."

….

Joelle was now twenty-seven weeks pregnant. It was Friday now and she had another doctor's appointment late in the afternoon. Sunday they would leave for their vacation. They had decided to stay close by so they could drive instead of fly.

"Well I'm off," Callen stated as he packed up his stuff. "I'll see you all after the holidays."

"Yeah see you," came the reply from Kensi, Deeks and Sam.

"Going somewhere?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, Joelle and I are going away for two weeks, just relax."

"How's she doing?" Kensi asked.

"She's doing just fine. The little baby is growing nice and big and they are both still very healthy."

"That's good to hear."

"Well enjoy your holidays everyone."

Callen grabbed his stuff and left. He drove to the doctor's office where he would meet Joelle. The doctor checked Joelle and the baby and everything was still going very well.

..

Around 10am on Sunday they left for their holidays. Callen made sure that everything was in the car.

"Did you grab my pregnancy pillow G?" Joelle called as Callen loaded the last few things in the car.

"Yes honey I have that, everything's in the car. Don't worry, we've got everything."

"Alright."

Callen went to lock up before they got in the car. Callen pulled out of the driveway and drove off.

* * *

 **A/N: you can find the pics of the invitations on my twitter account ilse_futbolista**


	26. Chapter 26

Callen drove down the street and took a right onto Conifer drive and then a right onto Walker street. They then took another right onto Orangethorpe Avenue and got on the ramp for the Artesia freeway. At the intersection they stayed on the left lane towards Riverside and the road changed into the Riverside freeway. They continued to follow Riverside and stayed on the left arch at the intersection. They took the exit towards San Diego and Indio. They were now on the Moreno Valley Freeway and then the Escondido freeway. They took the road towards Indio. They followed the Moreno Valley Freeway until they came on the ten. They followed this road until they came at the exit for Palm Springs, they were now on the one eleven. Once they were actually in Palm Springs the road changed into the one one eighteen. They stayed on this road until they came at West El Camino Way, here they took a right. Their vacation home was the second on the left, right at the intersection between West El Camino Way and South Mesa Drive. The owner of the vacation home was already waiting for them there. Callen parked the car on the driveway before they got out. The house looked nice from the front. The yard was sandy with big palm trees in it, a stoned path and some grass.

"Mr. Walinsky, Ms. Taylor?" The owner greeted them.

"Yes, that's us," Callen replied. They shook hands.

"Here are the keys to the house. There's a folder inside with some information about the neighborhood and stuff you can do here. The rules are also in that folder. My number is also in there in case you have any questions. I hope you enjoy your stay here and I will see you in two weeks. Let me know how late you want to check-out, you can check-out until 10am."

"Alright, thank you."

The owner handed the keys to Callen. Callen went to grab their suitcases from the car and brought them inside. They entered into the hallway which was white. To the right was the living area. Two white chairs stood against the front wall with a blue corner couch across from them. In the corner was a fireplace with a TV above it. Behind the couch stood a squared dining table with four seats. To the left of the dining area was a kitchen. The kitchen was brown with a white granite countertop. The kitchen was in a short of U shape with a breakfast bar. The kitchen had a coffee maker, dishwasher, microwave, oven, refrigerator, stove and toaster. Through the windows in the kitchen was a bar, outside underneath the covered patio. They also had a white with blue glass dining table and a white chair with blue cushions and in the same style a seating area. On the right side of the garden they also had a seating area with a fire pit. On the left side of the garden was a swimming pool with hot tub and some lounge beds. One bedroom was on the front of the house, left of the front door, with a secluded patio out front and adjoining bathroom. The master bedroom was at the back of the house, next to the kitchen. The bedroom had a king sized bed, two nightstands, two stools at the end of the bed, a table, a fan above the bed and a TV. Adjoining was a bathroom with double vanity, a closed off toilet and a separate shower and bed. The house had a washing machine and dryer, air conditioning, free wi-fi and ironing facilities. The kitchen was stocked with kitchenware and cleaning products. In the bathroom they had towels, free toiletries, a hairdryer and in the bedroom were linens on the beds. The house looked really nice. They put their stuff away and changed into the swimsuits. Joelle wore a purple black dotted tankini top with black shorts while Callen wore a pair of blue and red plaid swim shorts. The house didn't come with a parasol so Callen and Joelle had taken their own. Callen set it up outside over the lounge beds. It was just after noon so they had lunch first before going outside. After rubbing themselves with sunscreen they lay down on the beds.

"This is nice," Callen admitted as they lay there.

"Yes it is. It's a beautiful house."

"Yeah it is. It's nice to just relax and unwind."

"Yeah it is."

"You sure this vacation is not too much for you?"

"No, it's fine G. Don't worry."

"Okay good."

They just relaxed around the house and took the occasional dip in the pool. Around 6pm they took a shower and dressed themselves for dinner. Joelle dressed herself in a short black dress with multi colored butterflies and black sandals. Callen was dressed in a short pair of jeans and a blue button down shirt with short sleeves. They got in the car and drove to Las Casuelas Terrazza. Joelle took albondigas soup as starter while Callen had quesadilla tradicional. As main course they both had hamburgesa Americana. As dessert Joelle ordered chocolate fudge brownie and Callen had the house special sorbet. Dinner was really delicious. Callen payed for dinner before they went back to the house.

They relaxed on the couch for a while. Joelle went to sleep around 10pm. Callen stayed up a little longer before going to bed. He smiled when he walked into the bedroom. He looked at Joelle lying on the bed. She was curled up with her pregnancy pillow. Callen smiled at her. She looked so beautiful. Callen couldn't believe his life right now. He had a beautiful woman here who he loved more than anything. He was engaged to her and she was carrying his little boy. He never thought he would have that but he did have it now and he was very happy with it. Callen stripped out of his clothes and crawled into the bed with her. She was lying with her back towards his side. Callen crawled up to her and wrapped his arm around her. He gave her a soft kiss on her cheek as Joelle snuggled closer to him. It didn't take long for Callen to fall asleep. He woke up around 8am the next morning. Joelle was still asleep in his arms. Callen gave her a soft kiss on her cheek before he got out. Quietly he grabbed some clothes and left the bedroom. He went to the other bathroom to get dressed. Callen wrote a note and left it on the kitchen counter. Quietly he left the house and went to get some groceries. There was a Walmart about ten minutes from the house so he went there. As he walked through the store he couldn't help but walk past the baby department. He bought a pack of three bodysuits, one grey camo, one white with dinosaurs on it and one grey with a dinosaur on it, a pack with two footed pajamas, one light blue and one white with dinosaurs on it, a pack with three bodysuits, one white with trucks, planes and cars on it, one blue with a monkey on it and mommy's sidekick and one blue and black striped, a dark blue pair of shorts with a blue shirt with dark blue stripes on it and a little monkey on the bottom, a pack of Cars underwear, a black, red, grey and white plaid shorts with a grey shirt with Mickey on it, a three pack burpcloths, one white and blue striped, one white blue, green and dark blue striped and one white with dinosaurs on it and a pack with two bibs, one blue with a little turtle on it and I love mommy and one white with turtles on it. He also bought some things to put in the gift basket he was going to make for Joelle. He walked passed the jewelry department and saw a beautiful set lying in the display.

"You have excellent taste sir, it's a beautiful set," the saleswoman spoke as she walked up to him.

"How much is it?"

"It's one hundred and twenty five dollars, you have a necklace, ring and earrings."

"I'll take it. Can you wrap it up like a present?"

"Sure of course. Which size ring do you want?"

Callen told the woman Joelle's ring size. He still remembered it from when he bought the engagement ring. The saleswoman took a set from beneath the display and showed Callen that everything was in it before wrapping it up.

As last Callen went to get groceries for breakfast, lunch and dinner and some snacks. It was just before 9am when Callen walked back into the house. He quietly walked in, in case Joelle was still sleeping. The baby stuff he had bought for Joelle's basket he had left in the car. He had put them in his go-bag for now, which was always in the back of his car. It was still quiet in the main room but her heard the shower running. He quickly put the groceries that needed to go in the fridge away and walked to the bedroom. The shower was still running so Callen stripped out of his clothes before walking into the bathroom.

"Hey honey," Callen spoke as he stepped into the bathroom.

"Hey babe."

Callen opened the shower door and stepped into the shower. He wrapped his arms around Joelle from behind and kissed her neck.

"Good morning," Callen spoke.

"Good morning. What did you get at the store?"

"Just some groceries. How long have you been up?"

"Just a few minutes. I saw the note in the kitchen so I figure I'd take a shower."

"You don't mind that I joined right?"

"No absolutely not."

"Good."

Callen bent his head again and starting kissing her neck again. This man knew exactly what to do to turn her into a puddle in his arms. It was already the case before she got pregnant and now that she was pregnant he didn't have to do much to turn her into jelly.

"Hmmm G," Joelle moaned.

Callen turned her in his arms so he could properly kiss her. His hand moved down her body to the spot Joelle wanted it the most. It didn't take her long before she reached her peak. Her own hand traveled down and found Callen.

"Jo, you don't have to," Callen spoke as Joelle got down.

Before Callen could speak some more she was already pleasuring him. After a while Callen couldn't take it anymore and pulled Joelle up to him. He turned her around and Joelle braced herself against the wall with her hands as Callen moved inside of her. She loved making love to him. He was just such an amazing lover. Joelle had reach her peak three more times before Callen finally joined her on her fourth. Callen turned Joelle around and held her in his arms until her legs were more secure again.

"Thank you for that," Joelle spoke to Callen.

"You're welcome," Callen replied and kissed Joelle.

They finished their shower before getting out. They got dressed and Callen made breakfast for them. They sat at the table outside to eat. After dinner Callen grabbed the bag with baby stuff, the stuff he wasn't going to use for the gift basket, and showed them to Joelle.

"Oh G, these are too cute. Our baby will look great in them."

"I also bought you this." Callen placed the package with the jewelry on the table.

"What's this?" Joelle asked as she eyed the package.

"Just open it."

Joelle unwrapped the package and opened the box. "Oh my, G! This is beautiful."

Inside the box was a set with a necklace, earrings and a rings. They all had a double heart, one silver and one gold, looped into each other with in the hearts two smaller Ruby hearts.

"These are so beautiful Grisha. Thank you. What's the occasion?"

"No occasion, just cus I love you."

"I love you too," Joelle smiled at him. Callen leaned closer to her and gave her a kiss. "Thank you for this G, they are really beautiful."

"You're welcome. You deserve it. You're an amazing women for carrying our little boy inside of you. I try to be here as much as I can but you are carrying him. It's a pretty amazing thing you women do."

"I do have to admit it's not always easy but it's so wonderful. I love carrying our little boy and I'm glad you're here with me. You really are sweet to me and you support me. You're gonna be an amazing dad, I just know it."

"I hope so."

"You will be honey. You are so sweet already for me and the little baby. I can see that you love him already. We'll be just fine. You're gonna be a great dad."

"I'll do my best."

"That's all I need."

After breakfast they went to take a stroll through the Moorten botanical garden. It was just behind their house. It was close by so they walked there. It was a beautiful garden. They were close to the desert so there were some Cacti as well. They walked around for a while before going back to the house. They changed into their swimsuits and lay by the pool. It was really nice do just be here and relax. It was nice to relax after all the chasing bad guys Callen did. It was nice for Joelle too. Callen knew it wasn't always easy for her to be pregnant. Luckily she wasn't nauseous much, she was however easily tired and had sore feet. Callen often rubbed her feet in the evening when they sat on the couch.

…

A few days later they went on a jeep tour. The tour would take about three hours. They went early in the day so it wasn't that hot yet. It was beautiful to ride through the landscapes here in the area of Palm Springs. They had a guide that was driving the car so they could sit in the back of the car and enjoy the ride. They took a tour that didn't have such a wobbly road because that wouldn't be good for Joelle and the baby. They took some pictures during the drive. The guide even stopped the car at a few points and took pictures of Callen and Joelle.

"That was very nice," Joelle stated as they walked back into the house.

"Yeah it was. Wasn't it too much for you?"

"No it was fine."

"Okay good."

They had some lunch and changed into their swimsuits. They enjoyed the rest of the day at the pool with the occasional dip in the pool. They had a hot tub too but since Joelle was pregnant she couldn't go in there anymore. They had taken a floater chair with them as well for in the pool. Joelle sat in the chair as Callen swam around the pool.

"You enjoying yourself here?" Callen asked as he stood next to the chair.

"Yeah it's nice and comfortable."

"Okay good. And our little boy?" Callen asked as he rubbed her stomach.

"Our little boy is quiet today. He's relaxing too."

"Good."

They stayed outside for the rest of the afternoon before they got in the tub together. Callen got in first and then helped Joelle in. Joelle sat against his chest with her back while Callen had his arms around her and his hands rested on her stomach. Joelle relaxed in Callen's arms.

"It's nice being here. It's not that far from LA but we're still on vacation and we can relax," Joelle said.

"Yeah it is nice. Yeah it's nice to wind down. I don't get that much of free time during the year."

"Yeah and you make pretty long days sometimes."

"Yeah sometimes we do but someone has to protect this country."

"Yeah true, but I do miss you at home when you're late."

"I know honey me too and I will miss it too once our little boy is here."

"Just promise me you won't be away when I go into labor."

"I promise honey, I'll be there. I don't want to miss it."

"But you don't know what cases you'll get."

"I know but I promise you I'll be there. If we have to go overseas and you're close to your due date I just won't go. I don't wanna miss our little boy being born."

"Good, cus I need you there."

"I'll be there honey, I promise."

"Good."

They sat there for a while just relaxing in the tub. Joelle was sure if she stayed any longer like this she would fall asleep. They stayed in the tub for about an hour before going out. Callen went to prepare dinner as Joelle relaxed on the couch. They watched a movie on the TV. Once the movie had ended Joelle crawled onto Callen's lap. She planted her legs on either side of him and kissed him as Callen wrapped his arms around her.

"Wanna go to bed honey?" Joelle asked seductively.

"Of course."

Joelle got up and walked to the bedroom as Callen went to shut down the lights and close the doors. As Callen walked to the bedroom he found a trail of Joelle's clothes. When he got in the bedroom Joelle was lying naked on the bed. Callen walked to the bed and started undressing himself but Joelle stopped him. Joelle pushed him down on the bed and climbed on top of him. Callen loved this side of her and he was always more than willing to make love to her. But after the baby was born they would have to go a more than a few weeks without making love. But they probably wouldn't have much time for that anyway with a newborn baby around the house.

After making love they lay tangled up in each other's arms and they fell asleep.

…

They had been here in Palm Spring for about a week now. It was Monday today and they went to the grocery store together. As they walked through the store they suddenly heard gunfire.


	27. Chapter 27

"What was that?" Joelle asked.

"Not sure, but it sounded like gunfire."

They were at the back of the store so they couldn't really see what was going on. Callen spotted an emergency exit at the back, just behind them.

"Come on Jo."

Callen pulled Joelle to the emergency exit. As soon as Callen opened the door the alarm sounded. Callen quickly pulled Joelle outside and went to find them a safe place. They were now on the side of the building, in the parking lot with not much cover around. Just outside the door was however some closed fencing with some plants on top. It would at least give them cover from the door. Callen pulled Joelle there and kept her covered. Luckily he had his gun with him. Callen watched the door but nothing happened. He heard sirens in the distance coming closer. Him opening the back door probably triggered something with the local police. The cop cars pulled into the front parking lot. Callen pulled Joelle with him to the front, still keeping an eye on the door. Callen peeked around the corner and saw the cops standing in the parking lot, looking over someone lying on the ground with some people standing around it. Callen deemed it was safe so they came out from their hideout. They walked closer to the scene and saw someone lying on the ground, he appeared to have been shot.

"Officer, what is going on?" Callen asked one of the police officers.

"We had reports come in from shots fired at this location and then also the alarm of the store going off."

"That alarm was me, I opened the back door. I heard the shots but I didn't know where they came from, I thought perhaps they were at the store so me and me fiancé got out of the store." Callen softly spoke: "I'm a federal agent off duty."

"Okay sir. Did you see what happened?"

"No, we were at the back of the store. We didn't see anything and we didn't see a car speeding off from the scene."

The police questioned the others and they reported seeing a car drive up and shoot this man and then drive off. It seemed to be like a drive by. The paramedics took the man away. Once they were cleared by the police Callen and Joelle went inside to finish their shopping before going back to the house.

"You okay honey?" Callen asked as Joelle sat down on the couch.

"Yeah, I just can't believe someone would just pull up and shoot someone."

"Yeah, maybe he was involved in something bad. I don't know. It happens more often than you think. Usually whoever gets shot has some ties in the criminal world."

"Yeah perhaps, but he's still a human being."

"Yeah I know. But he didn't appear to be badly wounded so I'm sure he'll make it and the police will gets the ones responsible for it." Callen sat down next to Joelle on the couch. "It'll be okay honey."

Callen wrapped his arm around her and Joelle leaned her head on Callen's shoulder. They sat like that for a while. After lunch they went outside to lay by the pool after changing into their swimsuits.

The next morning they left early. They were going on a trip. Callen pulled out of the driveway and drove towards the South Palm Canyon Drive. At the intersection he made a left and an immediate right onto West Palm Canyon Drive. At the crossing he took a right onto East Palm Canyon drive. He then took a left onto South Sunrise Way. He followed the road until they were at the crossing with Ramon Road. He took a right here onto Ramon Road. He followed this road until they came at the crossing with the Thousand Palms Canyon Road. He drove down this road and then turned left when they reached the parking lot for the Coachella Valley Preserve. Callen parked the car and they got out of the car and went to hike the trails. It was all pretty flat so no big climbs for Joelle. They walked for about two hours, with the occasional rest and had lunch at the picnic spot before going back to the house.

"Was it not too much for you?" Callen asked as they were in the car back to the house.

"No it was fine. Really honey, I'm fine."

"Alright good."

Callen drove them back to the house and they just relaxed around the pool. That evening they went to eat at Giuseppe's. Joelle wore a lavender blossom knot front dress while Callen was dressed in a pair of short dress jeans with a blue and white plaid button down shirt. They got in the car and drove to the restaurant.

"Buonasera," a waiter greeted them. "Do you have reservations?"

"Buonasera. Yes we have, Walinsky," Callen replied.

The waiter checked the book and showed Callen and Joelle to a table. Callen helped Joelle sit down before he sat down himself. The waiter handed them a menu and took their drink order. Callen ordered the spicy buffalo wings as starter and the spaghetti marinara as main course. Joelle took the crispy raviolis as started and the cheese ravioli with Bolognese sauce as main course. Dinner was absolutely delicious. After dinner they walked to the Cold Stone creamery and had some dessert. Joelle had a waffle cup with chocolate ice cream and whipped cream while Callen had strawberry frozen yoghurt. They sat outside on the bench to eat their dessert before walking back to the car.

When they got home Joelle went to use the bathroom.

"G honey, could you help me with something?" Joelle called a little later.

Callen walked towards the bedroom. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Joelle lying on the bed in a sexy black see through lace lingerie dress with matching panties.

"What…?" Callen swallowed. "What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious," Joelle spoke in a cheeky tone. "Why don't you come over here and find out?"

Callen didn't have to be told twice. Callen quickly walked up to the bed and they had some fun before going to sleep.

The next day they relaxed around the house in the morning and went to do grocery shopping in the afternoon.

"I've got a surprise for you," Callen spoke as they pulled into the parking lot.

"Oh really? What kind of surprise?"

"You'll see."

Joelle followed Callen and he took her inside a spa.

"Hello welcome to Studio M salon and spa, how can I help you?" A friendly woman behind the desk greeted them.

"Hi, I made an appointment for Ms. Taylor."

The woman typed some things in on her computer. "Ah yes, Miss," the woman addressed Joelle. "If you'd follow me we can get started."

"What did you make an appointment for G?" Joelle asked Callen.

"I arranged for a nice massage for you. Just relax and enjoy it and I'll be back to pick you up in an hour."

Callen gave Joelle a quick kiss.

"Thanks G."

Joelle followed the woman as Callen went to do grocery shopping. An hour later Callen was waiting inside for Joelle.

"Hey honey," Joelle spoke once she saw Callen.

"Hey baby." Callen stood up and walked over to Joelle. He gave her a kiss. "How was it?"

"It was so nice. They gave me a nice mommy-to-be massage. It was really nice and relaxing. Thank you for this. It was really nice."

"You're welcome sweetie."

They went back to the car and drove back to the house.

..

Before they knew it their second week was up too and they had to go back home. Callen had cleaned the place and washed the sheets. Just before 10am the owner was there and he did a quick walkthrough before Callen and Joelle went back home. Just before they came at the exit towards Riverside Freeway they heard on the news that a big traffic accident had happened there and that the road was completely closed. Callen now followed the signs for Los Angeles and stayed on the left lanes. They were driving on the 60 now. They followed the signs for Santa Ana and they come on the Orange Freeway. They followed this road and took the exit for Los Angeles. They were now on the Riverside Freeway. The accident had happened earlier on the Freeway so they weren't bothered by it here anymore. They followed the road and followed the signs for Artesia onto the Artesia Freeway. Callen took the exit towards Valley View Street and Orangethorpe Avenue. Down the ramp he took a left onto Valley View Street and then a right onto Panama Drive. Next he took a right onto Puerto Rico Drive then a right onto Oak drive. Around the bend the road changed into Brian Lane. Callen drove it straight to the end, here was their house.

Callen parked the car in the driveway before they got out. Callen grabbed their suitcases as Joelle went to retrieve the mail. Joelle's parents had taken care of the house while they were gone. Callen took the suitcases to the garage and sorted out the laundry and put it on. Callen and Joelle had enjoyed the two weeks but it was nice to be home again. Callen still had one more week off before going back to work. Joelle would go back to work on August fifteen and then work till September second. The kids would be back on August sixteen but the teachers already had to work August fifteen, which was on Monday. It was now July twenty-forth.

After going through the mail Joelle called her parents to let them know she and Callen were back home again and to thank them for looking after the house. Callen had cleaned out their suitcases and put everything away. Callen looked through the fridge but there wasn't much in it anymore.

"Jo, do you need to me to get some groceries or do you want to go somewhere for dinner tonight?" Callen called into the living room.

"I was actually thinking about takeout, I feel like having some French fries and a nice juicy burger."

"Sure that's fine too. I'll get that later then."

"Great."

They just relaxed around the house for the rest of the day and around dinner time Callen went to McDonalds to get takeout.

"Oh G, could you bring me back one of those ice creams with M&M's?" Joelle asked as Callen was about to leave."

"Sure."

Callen grabbed the car keys and left. There was one close by, only about a five minute drive. Callen went to the drive-in and told them his order. Within twenty minutes he was back at the house. He put the ice creams in the fridge and they sat at the dinner table outside to eat.

"Mmmm, just what I wanted right now," Joelle said once she had taken a bite of her burger.

"Anything for your cravings honey," Callen smiled at her.

They relaxed the evening on the couch before going to bed. Callen was woken up early by his alarm the next morning. Joelle grunted when Callen's alarm went off.

"You just stay in bed honey, I'll see you later tonight."

Callen gave Joelle a soft kiss on her cheek before getting out of bed. He put his clothes on, grabbed some breakfast and left for work. It was still early but he wanted to get a workout in.

"Morning Sam," Callen spoke surprised when he walked into the gym and Sam was already there.

"Morning G, you're here early."

"I could say the same about you."

"Yeah wanted to get a workout done before work."

"Yeah me too."

Callen went to bikes as Sam was punching at the machine.

"How was your vacation?" Sam asked.

"It was nice. Joelle and I rented a house in Palm Springs. It was beautiful. We just relaxed around the house and did some sightseeing. It was nice. How about you?"

"Michelle and me took Kamran to Disneyworld in Florida. It was nice. We stayed at one of the resorts there. Kamran loved it."

"That's great."

They both worked out individually and then sparred together on the mat. After sparring they went to get a shower and went to the shooting range before going to the bullpen.

"Morning," Kensi and Deeks spoke a little later as they walked in.

"Morning," Sam and Callen replied.

"How was your vacation?" Sam asked.

"It was nice. We went to Lake Tahoe," Kensi replied.

"That's nice."

Eric whistled at the top of the stairs. "Vacation is over boys and girl."

Eric walked back to OPS, knowing that the others would follow him.

"What do we have Eric?" Callen asked as they walked in.

"This morning LAPD responded to gunfire downtown. When they entered the warehouse this is what they found," Eric spoke and he put some pictures up on the screen.

The agents looked at the pictures and saw several people dead on the floor, dead tied to a chair or dead hanging from the ceiling, in total there were six. Everyone single one of them was dressed in a Navy uniform.

"They're Navy?" Sam asked.

"Yes, we got the ID's," Nell continued. "And we ran facial reg to double check but they are all listed in the Navy, SEALs to be exact. They all had just gotten home from a deployment overseas. They were scheduled to go back in two months."

"Anything on who took them?" Callen asked.

"No, we're still looking. They had some time off so they weren't scheduled to report to the base. Three of them don't have a family but the other three did and they were reported missing two days ago."

"Alright, Kensi, Deeks, check in with the family. See if they know something."

"Got it," Kensi replied and she and Deeks left.

"Eric, Nell, find out what you can about these people, see if you can found out where they were last seen, maybe we'll catch them being taken."

"On it," Eric replied and the two techs sat down at their desks and started typing.

"Let's go check out the crime scene," Callen spoke to Sam and the two partners left.

….

Joelle went to babies"r"us to by some more stuff for the baby. Joelle bought a badger basinet basket natural hooded Moses bedding with gray/white bedding, a few baby books to read to the baby, a plush giraffe and hippo, a Mickey Mouse blanky, a pair of blue soft baby loafers, Mickey Mouse sneakers, a pack with six blue and white socks and a baby blue quilted pram for outside. She also went to buy some maternity clothes for herself.

…..

Callen and Sam returned to the office after checking out the crime scene. It was pretty brutal. They had been tortured before being killed. They didn't find anything on who could have taken them and they didn't spot any security cameras in the area.

A little later Kensi and Deeks walked back into the bullpen.

"Did you guys get anything useful from the families?" Callen asked.

"No, not much. They were all model sailors, they weren't in any kind of trouble. They all couldn't think of anything why this would happen. But they all did have the uniforms, so whatever uniform these guys were found in weren't their real uniforms."

"So someone purposely put those uniforms on them," Callen stated.

"Sending a message of some sort," Sam added.

"But what? Something to do with their mission overseas?"

"I just had contact with their superior officers," Hetty spoke, appearing behind Callen and walking into the bullpen. "They are shocked that all of them turned up dead. They were all part of the same unit. A unit hunting down high value targets in countries as Afghanistan, Pakistan. As far as they knew their systems hadn't been breached but perhaps one of the targets they captured has contacts here in Los Angeles. They've send over a list of their suspects and Mr. Beale and Ms. Jones are checking them now."

About two hours later Nell and Eric came down the stairs.

"We may have found something," Eric spoke as they walked down the stairs. "We checked into our dead SEALs and we caught one of them being taken."

Eric hit a few keys on his tablet and a video appeared on the screen. The agents watched the video. They saw the SEAL being ambushed, drugged and then dragged in a van.

"We tracked the van with kaleidoscope and we got a hit," Nell continued. "We tracked the van to a parking garage downtown. It's been there for about a day now."

"Send us the address, we'll check it out," Callen said.

Nell typed a few keys on her tablet. "On your phones."

"Thanks."

The team left and went to check out the van. They pulled their cars up to the van and with their SIGs drawn they made their way over to the van. Kensi and Deeks went to the front.

"Clear," Kensi and Deeks spoke and they moved to the back where Sam and Callen were.

With their weapons pointed at the back door Sam carefully undid the handle. He heard a click and he spotted a wire.

"BOMB!" He yelled and everyone quickly ran away and dove for cover but the bomb exploded already.


	28. Chapter 28

As soon as Sam yelled bomb everyone dove for cover. The bomb exploded fast however and they were flown through the air a bit.

"Argh," Callen grunted when he tried to get up after a few minutes. "Sam, you good?"

"Yeah I'm good."

Slowly both partners got up.

"Kens, Deeks?" Sam called. "You good?"

"We're good," Kensi called.

A little later there were paramedics and firemen on the scene. The paramedics checked the agents out but they were all okay, just some cuts and bruises. After they were cleared and the scene was cleared they went to search the van.

"Someone probably left this van here for us, knowing that we would find it and they probably thought they could get rid of us by putting a bomb in here," Sam spoke.

"Yeah but who and why?" Callen questioned.

"The van is torched so there probably won't be any finger prints."

Since the car was burned they couldn't get anything off of it so they went back to the office.

"You all okay?" Hetty asked as the team walked in.

"We're fine," Callen replied.

"So this was a trap for you?"

"It looks that way, but we still don't know who did this."

"We may can help with that," Eric spoke as he and Nell came down the stairs. "'We looked at some more footage of where the van was spotted and we got lucky. One camera caught the driver and passenger on camera." Eric put a picture on the screen. "Our man on the right is listed under an alias here but his real name is Abdul Khan, he's Afghani. He moved here about six months ago. He's on the list we got from the commanding officer."

"He and his brother were both a target of a SEAL team. They killed his brother on site but Abdul escaped. They were never able to find him again," Nell continued.

"How did he get to America?" Kensi asked. "He should probably be on a watch list, so how did he get in?"

"Well for so far we can determine he came over her via Mexico. How he got from Mexico to US is not clear at the moment. He's been living here in LA under his alias name for the past five months."

"So he survives the attack in Afghanistan and comes here under an alias," Sam summed up. "He lives here for about five months and then the SEAL team that killed his brother ends up dead. How did he find out who the SEALs were that killed his brother?"

"He could still have contacts with someone back in Afghanistan and they helped him ID the members of the team and somehow he found out that they're back here in LA," Callen said.

"And the dressing up in the Navy costumes? A message to the members in the service coming for them? To send a message what will happen if they come for them?" Deeks reasoned.

"Do you know where he is now?"

"I can't find a current living address but according to his files his alias is working at convenient store down on Pico. Address is on your phones, according to his schedule he should be there right now."

"Great thanks. Let's go guys."

They all got in their cars and drove to the store. They parked a little down the street. Kensi and Deeks went into the alley in case Abdul would try to escape through the back. Sam and Callen walked into the store. They walked up to the register.

"Federal agents," Callen spoke as he showed his badge. "We're here to see Ahmed."

"Ah yes, he's over there. Ahmed, there are some people here to talk to you."

Abdul looked their way, as soon as he spotted Callen and Sam he dropped the box he was holding and made a run for the back door.

"Going somewhere Abdul?" Kensi asked once Abdul came out the back. She and Deeks had their weapons on him.

"Trying to run from us Abdul?" Callen questioned as he and Sam walked outside as well.

"I didn't do anything! And my name is not Abdul, it's Ahmed."

"Then why did you run?"

"I thought you guys were cops man."

"You wish we were just cops, you see we're federal agents and you're under arrest for murder," Callen smirked at him.

Callen and Sam took Abdul to the boatshed as Kensi and Deeks questioned his co-workers.

"You can't keep me here!" Abdul yelled when Callen put him in interrogation.

"Yes we can. You see we found several dead SEALs this morning and they all have your name on them," Callen said as he sat down opposite from Abdul.

"SEALs? What SEALs? I didn't kill no one and my name is Ahmed not Abdul."

"Give it up, we know who you really are and that the SEAL team that was found dead was the same SEAL team that killed your brother and tried to kill you," Sam told him. "We all know about it so just drop the act."

"If you come clean it might help you. Tell us who you're working with," Callen added.

"I'm not giving you anything."

"If you cooperate with us this will go a lot more smoothly."

"I want a lawyer."

"Terrorists don't get a lawyer. We've got all the time in the world. You're not going anywhere unless you tell us what we wanna know."

"Those men deserved to die in the name of Allah."

"They were American SEALs who had families, people that cared about them," Sam reasoned.

"They killed my family, my people that I care about. They deserved to die, I just did what was coming to them."

"Who are you working with? How did you find them?"

"I'm not telling you guys anything else."

Callen's phone rang, it was Kensi. He and Sam stepped out and Callen answered the phone and put it on speaker.

"Yeah Kens?"

"We talked to some of his co-workers. They said he lives in a house a few blocks from here with some other family members. Eric and Nell checked the house and who it's listed to. The people living there were on the list as well. We're gonna check it out now."

"Send the address to my phone, we'll meet you there."

"Will do."

Callen hung up the phone. There was an agent to keep an eye on Abdul as the partners went to the house. Kensi and Deeks were already there when Callen and Sam pulled up.

"What did you see?" Callen asked.

"Counted at least five people inside and they seemed to be packing."

"Alright, Kensi, Deeks, go to the front see if you can flush them out. Sam and I will go around back."

The team moved into position. Kensi got low and knocked on the door. Deeks stood just around the corner of the wall with his gun pointed at the door. Once she had knocked Kensi moved back a bit as well and got behind the other wall.

"Nobody coming out here," Kensi spoke over the com.

"Alright, announce yourself," Callen replied back.

"Federal agents! Come out with her hands up!"

They heard some rumbling inside but no one showed up through the front door. Callen and Sam saw the back door opening.

"Federal agents! Stay where you are!" Callen yelled.

The one that was out the door first pulled his gun and shot and Callen and Sam. Callen and Sam were covered so they put their heads down as well. Kensi busted the door window and threw a smoke bomb inside. More people came out now coughing, both through the front and back door.

"Federal agents! Down on the ground!" They yelled.

The ones at the back pulled their guns, since they were already half outside and started firing at Callen and Sam. Callen and Sam fired back at them, hitting a few in the chest. The ones at the front didn't fire and got down on the ground. Kensi and Deeks zip tied them. After a while the gunfire stopped. The ones that were still alive Callen and Sam zip tied as well. They brought them to the front where Kensi and Deeks kept them company as Callen and Sam searched through the house. They found a laptop and some papers. They bagged everything up and took it back to the office. Kensi and Deeks stayed behind at the scene to clear it.

Once back at the office Callen took the laptop and the documents upstairs for Eric and Nell. Two hours later the wonder twins came down the stairs, Kensi and Deeks had returned in the meantime already.

"Well we looked through everything you guys brought back," Nell started. "And these are definitely the guys that killed the SEALs. We found a lot of evidence. They all came to the US together with Abdul and they were all targeted in the attack."

"We looked through the emails on the laptop," Eric continued. "We found out how they knew it was this unit that was responsible for the attack. They had contact with someone at the base, an intelligence officer there. We sent the information over to the MP's and they've already arrested this person."

"Great work guys," Callen spoke.

The agents finished up their paperwork before going home.

"Hey honey," Callen called into the house as he stepped in.

"Hey G, I'm in the kitchen," Joelle called back.

Callen dropped his bag by the door and walked to the kitchen.

"There's my beautiful mommy to be," Callen spoke as he walked up to Joelle.

Callen wrapped his arms around her from behind and gave her a kiss on her cheek. Joelle put down the knife and turned around in his arms.

"Oh god G, what happened to you?" Joelle exclaimed when she saw the cuts and bruises on Callen's face.

"It's nothing honey, it's not as bad as it looks. It'll heal."

"What happened?"

"We were checking out a van that was used for a kidnapping. It was abandoned and when we wanted to open the back door we noticed there was a bomb. We got out of the way as fast as possible but we still got hurt a bit. But don't worry honey, it's nothing. Just some cuts and small bruises. It's nothing, trust me. I'm fine honey, don't worry."

"Okay good."

"How was your day? How's our little boy doing?" Callen asked as he rubbed his hand over Joelle's stomach.

"Our little boy is doing just fine. He's been quiet today apart from the occasional kick."

"Kicking the outside yet?"

"No sorry honey, not yet."

"Too bad."

"Don't worry honey, I'm sure he'll kick the outside one of these days."

"I hope so."

"I bought some new things for the baby today."

Joelle showed Callen the things she bought for him.

"Aww these are too cute. I can't wait for him to be here."

"Me neither. It's gonna be so cute to see you with a little baby in your arms."

Callen wrapped his arms around Joelle again. "It's gonna be very cute to see you with him too." Callen gave Joelle a kiss.

"Can you go set the table honey, dinner is almost ready?"

"Of course baby."

Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before he went to set the table.

….

Joelle was now thirty one weeks pregnant and it was time for another doctor's appointment. Joelle had one more week off from school after this week, but it was Friday so this week was almost over. Joelle had planned the appointment at the end of the afternoon so Callen would be able to come as well. Joelle was sitting in the waiting room. It was just five minutes till her appointment and Callen wasn't here yet. Joelle pulled her phone out and called Callen but it went to voicemail. She called Sam as well but it went to voicemail as well. She hated when she couldn't reach either one of them. She just hoped everything was still alright. She knew Callen was very good at his job and that he had Sam to watch his back but she couldn't help but worry about him. She just hoped she would be able to reach him when she went into labor. She knew he promised her that he would be there but she knew what his job was like and that he could be called in at any minute or that he would have to go away.

When the doctor called her in Callen wasn't here yet so Joelle went in alone.

"Good afternoon Joelle. Greg not joining us today?"

"No, he's still stuck at work. He had a meeting and that probably run late."

"Ah okay. I'll give you a picture and a DVD of the ultrasound."

"Thank you."

"Why don't you lie down so we can get started."

Joelle lay down on the bed and the doctor examined her and the baby. They were both doing very well. The doctor handed Joelle a picture and DVD and Joelle made an appointment for two weeks from now on her way out. Pissed that Callen didn't make it she got in her car and drove home.

Callen pulled into the parking lot, hoping he wasn't too late for the doctor's appointment and he spotted Joelle's car just leaving the parking lot.

"Damn it," Callen cursed.

Callen pulled out of the parking lot and drove home.

"Hey Jo," Callen called into the house as he walked in but there was no response. "Jo? Where are you?"

Callen dropped his bag by the door and went to look for Joelle. He couldn't find her downstairs so he went upstairs. He found her upstairs in the nursery.

"Hey, here you are."

Joelle just stood there in front of the changing table, looking out of the window. She didn't turn towards Callen when he walked in.

"Jo, honey. You okay?"

"You said you'd be there."

"I know honey but I got hung up at work. I'm sorry."

"You said you'd be there," Joelle said again and she turned to face Callen.

Callen could see that Joelle was crying. He stepped closer to her and pulled her in for a hug. Joelle rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry honey. I went to the doctor's but I got there too late. I just saw you pull out of the parking lot. I'm really sorry honey. I wanted to be there but I couldn't leave work."

"I called you and Sam before the appointment but I couldn't reach you."

"I know, I saw. I was busy with the case. I couldn't answer my phone and neither could Sam. I'm really sorry I missed the appointment honey. I really wanted to be there." Callen lifted her head up and cupped her face. "I'm really sorry honey. I love you and our little boy so much, I really wanted to be there."

"I know honey and it's not your fault. I just hope you won't be gone while I give birth."

"That's not gonna happen, I promise. That is not gonna happen. I'll be there, no matter what. Screw my job then, I'll be there with you. I promise honey." Callen wiped the tears from her eyes and face. "Was everything okay with you two?"

"Yeah, yeah, everything was okay with both of us."

"Okay, that's good. I'm really sorry that I missed it."

"It's okay honey. I know you love us and it's not your fault. I'm just glad you're okay."

"I'm fine honey, don't worry about me."

"I know but I do. I just want you to come home to me and our little boy."

"I promise you I will, always."

"Good." Joelle pulled Callen to her and kissed him deeply.

Callen wrapped his arms around her and kissed her even deeper. Callen felt that Joelle was walking him backwards so Callen picked her up. Joelle automatically wrapped her legs around his waist. It wasn't easy to kiss like this, her stomach was in the way a bit but Callen managed to walked them towards their bedroom. Callen gently placed Joelle on the bed and got in next to her. Clothes flew everywhere before they made love. Joelle couldn't help herself, she just needed to feel Callen close to her right now. This was what she needed right now. It was quick but still oh-so-good. Joelle had come three times already when Callen joined her on her fourth. She just couldn't help it, what Callen was doing was just too good.

"How about we order in dinner for tonight?" Joelle suggested.

"Sounds fine by me."

They both freshened up a bit and Callen ordered them both a pizza. They sat on the couch together watching some TV while eating.

"Oh yes that reminds me, I got a picture and a DVD today."

"Oh, I wanna see those. Where are they?"

"In my purse."

"I'll get them."

Callen got up from the couch and retrieve the items out of Joelle's purse.

"Aww Jo, this is too cute. It's so cute to see our little baby like this."

"Yeah it is."

Callen put the DVD in the DVD player and together with Joelle he watched it.

"Aww look at that, he's kicking."

"Yeah he is."

Callen bent over to Joelle's stomach. "Hey buddy, do you think you can maybe kick the outside too? Daddy wants to feel you kicking too, not just mommy."

"I love it when you talk to our little boy like that," Joelle spoke with a smile.

"You carry him around, I want him to know who is daddy is too."

"Oh trust me honey, he knows. He always reacts to your touch or voice."

"That's good to know."

…..

Today was Joelle's last day of work before he maternity leave. She was now almost thirty-six weeks. She was ready to go on maternity leave and to have this little baby. Both she and Callen couldn't wait to meet the little guy. Everything at the house was ready for his arrival.

When Joelle pulled up to the house Callen just pulled up beside her.

"Hey beautiful," Callen spoke as he exited his car.

"Hey honey."

Callen walked over to Joelle and gave her a kiss. "How was your last day?"

"It was just fine. I am gonna miss the kids but I'm happy to be home now and in a few weeks with our little boy."

"Yeah, it's not long now."

"Could you grab the basket from the trunk please?"

"Of course." Callen grabbed the basket from the trunk. It were some baby presents. "Your colleagues gave this to you?"

"Yeah, we always do that when someone goes on maternity leave. Everyone puts a little present for me or the baby in it."

"Ah that's nice. Can you open them all at once?"

"Yes I can."

"Ah great."

They sat down on the couch and opened the presents together. Joelle got some nice things for herself like some books or some nice bath products to relax. They got a pack with ten koala baby ivory cozy forest bunny socks, four garden squirtees for in bath, a splash n catch bath time fishing set, an elephant hang toy for on the car seat or bouncy chair, a panda and monkey wrist rattle, a Mickey on the go musical toy, an abc board book, an apple toothy teether, a little first look and find book, a pack with two Winnie the pooh waterproof bibs, a pack with five koala baby jungle bibs, a tiny footprint square dinner set with elephants, a towel and washcloth set with elephants and foam sea animal bath toys.

"These are all so cute. I can't wait for our little boy to be here," Joelle spoke.

"Me neither honey, I'm really excited to meet him."

"I know me too."

Callen placed his hand on Joelle's stomach and he felt something against his hand. "Was that a kick?"

"Yeah it was. He kicked the outside."

"That felt amazing. I can't believe he finally kicked the outside."

"Happy now?"

"Yeah, sorry honey. I know the kicks to the bladder and kidneys are not so nice."

"It's okay, I can deal with it. Just a few more weeks."

"Yeah just a few more weeks."

After dinner they sat on the couch for a while before going to bed. Joelle lay snuggled up to her pregnancy pillow and Callen lay behind her. In the middle of the night Callen woke up and he noticed Joelle wasn't in the bed anymore.


	29. Chapter 29

Callen went out of bed to look for Joelle. He couldn't find her upstairs so he went downstairs. He found her in the kitchen, leaning against the kitchen counter with her elbows resting on the counter.

"Here you are, you okay?" Callen asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"Hey G, yeah I'm fine, just couldn't sleep."

"You okay?" Callen asked as he walked over to her and rubbed her back.

"Yeah, the baby is just a little bit active tonight but I'm fine."

Callen kept rubbing Joelle's lower back. They stood there in the kitchen for a while before going back to bed. Joelle curled up to her pregnancy pillow and Callen snuggled in behind her. He wrapped his arm around her so it was resting on her stomach.

"Just try to get some sleep okay and you can wake me for anything," Callen spoke to her.

"I know honey."

Joelle kissed Callen before they snuggled together and a little later they fell asleep.

They had a quiet and relaxing weekend.

..

"You'll be okay here on your own tomorrow?" Callen asked Sunday night as they lay in bed. "I could ask Hetty if I could work from home if we have no urgent cases."

"That's not necessary but thanks G. Don't worry, I'll be fine and if something happens I will call you okay. But I'll be fine, I promise."

"Alright. But I don't mind staying home with you."

"I know G. Thank you but I'll be fine. You have your job."

"I love my job but nothing is more important than you and our little boy. I love you both."

"I know G. We love you too."

Callen crawled closer to Joelle and kissed her. He was so happy to have her in his life and he couldn't wait for their little boy to be born. He was still scared about becoming a father, scared about what it would be like when the baby would be here but he was very excited too. After everything he went through he now had a loving family of his own and he was so happy with them.

They stopped kissing and looked into each other's eyes. They could both see the love in the other's eyes.

"Make love to me G," Joelle spoke.

"You sure you're up for that?"

"Yeah I am. Make it good, cus I don't know if I'll be up for it again before the baby is here."

Callen smiled at her and kissed her again. He took his time undressing her and worshipping her body. He turned Joelle around and lay behind her before moving inside of her. Callen had his hand on her stomach and Joelle's hand was intertwined with his. As he moved Callen kissed her neck. He loved the sounds Joelle made whenever the made love, they turned him on even more.

Spend but very content they fell asleep in each other's embrace. They were woken up the next morning at 8am when Callen's alarm went off.

"You stay in bed okay, get some more sleep. I'll see you later," Callen told Joelle.

"Be careful," Joelle replied still half asleep.

"Always. I love you." Callen bent down to Joelle's stomach. "And I love you too, be good to mommy today." Callen gave Joelle a kiss before he slipped out of the bed.

"I love you too," Joelle spoke before Callen got out.

Callen gave Joelle one more kiss before he went downstairs. He grabbed some breakfast before going to the office.

"Morning," Callen spoke as he walked into the bullpen, only Sam was there.

"Morning. How was your weekend?"

"It was good, just quiet. Yours?"

"Good, did some fun things with Kamran. How's Joelle doing? She's on maternity leave right?"

"Yes she is, as of this week. She's doing fine but I can tell she wants the baby to be here."

"That's understandable. Michelle had that too with both Aiden and Kamran. Towards the end she had enough with being pregnant and she wanted her old body back. We were both excited to meet the little baby but for Michelle the last few weeks were hard. Everything was aching and she couldn't move around so easily anymore. There's not much that you can do, just be there for her."

"Yeah I will. I just hope the job doesn't pull me away too much right now."

"Don't worry G, I've got your covered. You don't have to miss your baby being born."

"Thanks Sam."

A little later Kensi and Deeks arrived too and not long after that Eric whistled them upstairs.

"What do we have?" Callen asked as the agents walked into the OPS center.

"Late last night LAPD were in pursuit of a speeding vehicle when this happened," Eric spoke.

Eric put some traffic camera footage on the screen and hit play. They saw a high speed chase and then the car that was being chased exploded.

"Oh yikes, not a good way to go," Deeks remarked.

"Who was driving the car?" Callen asked.

"The ME hasn't been able to confirm yet but she did determine it was a women who was driving and there was a male body found in the trunk. The car is registered to Tyler Davis," Nell said as she put an ID on the screen. "He's a petty officer working out of camp Pendleton."

"Was it his body in the trunk?" Sam asked.

"The ME isn't sure yet but she did say the body matches Davis' description but she'll need dental records to confirm. We checked in with camp Pendleton, Davis didn't check in for work this morning but he did check out on Friday evening. So far we don't know where he has been over the weekend."

"Any next of kin?" Callen wanted to know.

"He lives here in Los Angeles with his girlfriend, address is on your phone."

"Thanks. Kensi, Deeks, you speak with his girlfriend. Sam and I will go check out the car. Eric, Nell, see if you can get anything from the LAPD report why they were chasing this car, maybe it wasn't just a speeding car they saw passing by."

"Got it," Eric replied.

With everyone knowing what do to they went to work. Callen and Sam went to the impound yard where the car was. It was really badly burned.

"Not a good way to go," Callen remarked as he saw the car.

"Nope, not at all. But was it an accident or murder?"

The remains had already been removed so Callen and Sam could examine the car. Sam looked in the seats as Callen looked through the trunk. Callen found some rope and duct-tape suggesting that whoever was in the trunk was bound and gagged. Sam found pieces of a cell phone and a detenator. They took the cell phone parts back to the office to see if Eric could get something off of it.

"Anything on the IDs?" Callen asked when he and Sam walked back in. Eric and Nell were just coming down the stairs.

"ID on the male in the trunk did come back already and it is indeed Davis," Nell told them. "No ID on the woman yet."

"Got some cell phone pieces for ya, see what you can get off of it. It was probably used to trigger a device that exploded the car."

Eric and Nell went to the gadget room and got started. Kensi and Deeks were still out. Callen walked to the courtyard and pulled out his phone.

Joelle was sitting on the couch when her phone rang. She saw it was Callen so she answered it.

"Hey honey," Joelle answered the phone.

"Hey beautiful, how are you?"

"I'm good. Just taking it easy. You?"

"I'm good. Just waiting for some new information on a case. I just wanted to check in to see how you were doing."

"That's sweet of you Grisha, but I'm fine. There's no need to worry about me, just focus on your job."

"I'll see you later. I'll let you know if it's gonna be later."

"Alright. I love you, just be careful."

"I will Jo, I love you too. Bye honey."

"Bye baby."

Callen hung up the phone and went back inside. About twenty minutes later Kensi and Deeks were back.

"Anything useful from the girlfriend?" Callen asked.

"No, not much. She said he drove to Pendleton last night. He always drives back Sunday night. She couldn't think of anyone who would wanna hurt him and as far as she knew he didn't have problems with anyone."

The two techs came out of the gadget room.

"We managed to get something off of the cell phone," Eric spoke. "The cell phone received a call from a pay phone just before the bomb detonated. Luckily the pay phone that was used has a camera on it." Eric put the picture on the screen. "Too bad he's turned away from the camera but when he walked away we picked him up on another camera." Eric put another picture on the screen.

"We ran him through facial reg," Nell continued. "And his name came back as Ryan Fuller. We looked for connections to Davis and the only one we could find was that Davis served with Ethan Fuller, Ryan's brother. Ethan was killed about six months ago on a mission and Davis was in the same unit."

"So Fuller gets killed during a mission, which Davis was a part of as well and then six months later Davis dies in a car accident and Fuller's brother set the explosion. That can't be a coincidence," Callen stated.

"Any ID on the woman yet?" Sam asked.

"No, not yet."

"Do you know where Fuller is?" Callen questioned.

"His credit card was used in a diner on Sunset boulevard about ten minutes ago."

"Sam and I will go pick him up. Kensi, Deeks, see who the commanding officer of that unit was, maybe something happened there and Ryan blames Davis for his brother's dead."

Callen and Sam got in the challenger and Sam drove them to the diner. Just as they pulled up Fuller exited the diner.

"That's him Sam."

Callen exited the car.

"Ryan Fuller!" Callen yelled.

As soon as Fuller saw Callen he made a run for in. Callen got back in the car and Sam followed him. Fuller ran into an alley but Sam boxed him in. Fuller ran and jumped the fence. Callen got out of the car and followed him. Sam drove off and tried to cut Fuller off. Callen jumped the fence and ran after Fuller. When Fuller came back on the streets Sam cut him off and Callen tackled him to the ground.

"That's for making me run," Callen spoke as he cuffed Fuller.

Callen put him in the back of the challenger and they took him to the boatshed. Callen put him down on the chair in interrogation and undid the cuffs before sitting opposite from him.

"Why did you run Fuller? Usually when people run it's because they have something to hide," Callen said.

"I didn't do anything."

"Not according to what we found." Callen took the folder and opened it. He placed two pictures of Fuller at the payphone on the table. "You see this is you."

"So I used a payphone, big deal. More people do that."

"True, but not all people used that payphone at the exact time a car bomb exploded. We found pieces of the cell phone and we traced it back to that payphone and guess who was there at the time of the call." Fuller kept quiet. "You called in and the bomb exploded. The bomb was in a car registered to Tyler Davis. You know him right?" Fuller got an angry look on his face. "We know that your brother died on a mission and Davis was part of the team. You blame him for your brother's dead?"

"He killed my brother!" Fuller yelled as he slammed his fists down on the table.

"That's not what his commanding officer said," Sam told him.

"I don't care what he says. I know the truth. Davis got my brother killed. My brother was a rookie and Davis should have had his back. It's his fault my brother didn't come home."

"So what, you decide to kill him?"

"He deserved to die. He killed my brother!"

"Callen, Sam, we've got an ID on the women in the car," Nell's voice was heard over their coms. "You're gonna wanna see this."

The partners left the interrogation room and went to the main room. Nell's face popped up on screen.

"What did you find?" Callen asked.

"The ME just sent us the ID on the woman in the car," Nell spoke. "It's Debbie Fuller, Fuller's sister."

Callen and Sam exchanged a look.

"Thanks Nell."

The two men went back into the interrogation room. Callen sat opposite from him again and Sam pulled up the other chair.

"You didn't just kill Davis, you killed your sister too," Callen told him flatly. "The woman who was driving the car was your sister. When you set off the bomb you killed her too."

"She wasn't supposed to be in the car," Fuller broke down after a minute or so. "She was supposed to drop the car off and then I would call in to detonate it but that stupid bitch got caught by the police and they were in pursuit of her."

"You what, you just decided to detonate the bomb anyway and kill your own sister too."

"I couldn't let the cops found out what we did. I figured if I detonated the bomb all the evidence would be gone."

"You killed your sister to save your own skin. That's just pathetic."

Fuller broke down and started crying. "It wasn't supposed to go like that."

Callen and Sam left interrogation. A little later agents came to pick Fuller up and the partners went back to the office. They finished up their paperwork before going home.

….

Joelle was now in her thirty-seventh week. She was more than ready to have this baby. Since a few days she was getting Braxton-Hicks contractions. Callen stayed at home as much as he could but sometimes he did have to go to work. Luckily he hadn't been called in for long undercover jobs. Callen really hoped it wouldn't be much longer now, he could see the toll it was taking on Joelle and probably with her Braxton-Hicks contractions it wouldn't be long. Mostly Joelle had to go out of bed at least once a night. Tonight was no exception. She tried not to wake Callen but every time she had gotten out Callen had come out after her as well. Tonight Callen found her in the tub.

"You okay honey?" Callen asked as he walked into one of the other bathrooms. Their bathroom didn't have bath. They would maybe remodel it but the other two bathrooms did have a bath.

"Yeah, the baby was just very active. Thought a bath would help."

"And does it?"

"A little. I just hope the baby is here soon. I don't think I can handle this three more weeks."

"You'll be fine honey. I know you want the baby out and I wanna meet him too but we have to wait till he's ready. I know it's tough for you but I'm here for you, for whatever you need."

"I know honey and thank you for that. I'm good here, you can go back to sleep if you want."

"Nah, I'll stay here with you. You want some company in the tub?"

"Sure, but you don't have to."

"I don't mind."

Callen stripped out of his clothes and joined Joelle in the tub. Joelle sat up a bit so Callen could slide in behind her. Joelle snuggled back against his chest and Callen wrapped his arms around her. They stayed in the tub for a while before going back to back. An hour later Callen woke up again when Joelle got out of the bed. He stayed in at first but then he heard her going down so he followed her. He found her in the kitchen leaning against the counter.

"You sure you're okay honey?" Callen asked as he walked into the kitchen. "Usually they don't last this long."

"I'll be fine. It'll pass."

"You sure it's not real labor?"

"I don't think so. I'm timing the contractions whenever I feel them. The doctor said to call her when they get five minutes apart or when my water breaks. My water hasn't broken yet and the contractions are still like fifteen minutes apart. Don't worry honey. I'm sure it are still just Braxton-Hicks contractions."

Callen rubbed Joelle's back. The contractions went from fifteen to ten minutes apart over the last hour. Joelle thought that this would be it perhaps. Ten minutes apart was the closest she had gotten so far. Her contractions continued to get closer and heavier. Joelle grabbed Callen's hand tightly whenever a contraction hit.

"Yeah I don't think these are just Braxton-Hicks anymore. I'm gonna call the doctor."

"No, not yet. They are not that close yet."

Just as she finished saying that Joelle screamed when she got a heavy contraction and she squeezed Callen's hand tight. When the contraction was over Joelle felt something wet run down her leg.

"Now you can call the doctor. My water just broke."

Callen's face froze for a second and he looked down. He saw a pool of water down Joelle's legs.

"Alright, come on, let's get you to the car."

Callen helped Joelle to and into the car. He quickly went back inside and grabbed Joelle's bag, which was already by the door. He pulled out of the driveway and drove to the hospital. On the way over to the hospital Callen called the doctor. She would meet them at the hospital. It was just after 5.30am when Callen and Joelle arrived at the hospital. Callen grabbed a wheelchair for Joelle and took her upstairs to the maternity ward.

"Good morning," Callen spoke to the desk nurse. "Joelle Taylor is here for doctor Garcia."

"Ah yes, she called us." The nurse turned around to another nurse. "Emma, could you take Ms. Taylor to her room?"

"Of course." Emma walked up to them. "Hello, I'm Emma and I'll be your OB nurse. Follow me and we'll get you settled into your room."

Callen pushed the wheelchair and followed Emma to the room. Callen put Joelle's bag on the couch and helped Joelle to get into the bed. The nurse helped Joelle take her pajamas off and helped her put a hospital gown on. Just as Joelle was finished changing the doctor walked in.

"Well good morning, I see it's time," doctor Garcia spoke.

"Good morning doctor. Yeah, my water broke just before we called you."

"Alright and your contractions? Have far apart are they?"

"About six minutes right now."

"Alright, lay back down on the bed so I can examine you please."

Joelle lay down on the bed as the doctor grabbed the ultrasound. The doctor fired the machine up, put some gel on the wand and put the wand on Joelle's stomach.

"Everything looks good. The baby has turned already. He's ready to come out. Let me feel between your legs to see how far you are." She pulled some gloves on and felt in between Joelle's legs. "You're two centimeters dilated so we'll just have to wait till your fully dilated. Just relax and I'll be back later to check on you. If you need any pain meds just press the button."

The doctor put a baby monitor on Joelle's stomach before she left.

"I can't believe we're finally gonna meet him," Callen told Joelle with a smile.

"Yeah finally he'll be here. I can't wait."

"You'll do great honey and I'll be right here next to you."

At 8am Joelle was only four centimeters dilated. It was going very slow, too slow for her liking. Callen pulled his phone out and quickly called Sam and Hetty to tell them what was going on.

Joelle didn't know in what position to stand, sit or lie. She couldn't find a comfortable position. The most comfortable position was standing next to the bed with Callen rubbing her back.

"You're doing great honey, I'm proud of you."

"Shut up you! This is all your doing!" Joelle yelled as a contraction ripped through her body. "Sorry honey, I didn't mean that."

"It's okay honey, you can say anything you want."

At noon Joelle was still only six centimeters dilated. She hated that it was going this slowly. She finally caved and the doctor gave her some medications for the pain. The medication did wonders and within an hour she was fully dilated. They had moved her to a delivery room already about ten minutes ago. The doctor and the nurse were getting everything ready for the delivery.

"This is finally it Jo, we're gonna meet him," Callen spoke.

"Yeah finally. I can't wait to see him."

"Alright Joelle, we're all set. When you feel the next contraction I want you to push."

When the next contraction hit Joelle grabbed Callen's hand tightly and pushed. Three pushes later the baby's head was out and after two more pushes the baby was almost out. Joelle gave it everything she got and pushed hard to get the baby out. The baby immediately started crying.

"Congratulations mommy and daddy. We have a little surprise here, you have a little girl."


	30. Chapter 30

Callen and Joelle looked at each other surprised. A little girl? They had a little girl? The doctor told them that they were expecting a little boy and they even saw it on the monitor.

"A girl?" Joelle spoke surprised. "You sure doctor?"

"Yes, I'm positive." The doctor held the baby up so Callen and Joelle could see the now crying baby. It really was a little baby girl. "Would you like to do the honors dad?"

Callen was handed the scissors and Callen cut the umbilical cord. The nurse went to check the baby and clean her up. The doctor grabbed the ultrasound machine and fired it up.

"I was for sure it was a boy," the doctor spoke. The doctor put some gel on the wand and put it on Joelle's stomach. "Ah I see it now."

"What?" Joelle asked concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not wrong and you are in fact having a little boy."

"She is? Wait, does that mean twins?" Callen asked astonished.

"Yes twins. There is still a little baby boy inside waiting to come out."

"How can that be doctor?" Joelle asked. "Shouldn't the other baby have shown up on the ultrasounds as well."

"I've never experienced it before but I have heard stories about there being a surprise baby at birth. Sometimes the babies hide behind each other or one is so deep in the uterus that it doesn't show up on the ultrasounds. It doesn't happen very often but it does happen."

"Is everything still okay?"

"Yes don't worry. Everything is perfectly fine. I'm just gonna check you to see how far you're dilated." The doctor felt in between Joelle's legs. "You're seven centimeters right now, so we'll just have to wait. Don't worry, it's perfectly common with twins."

The nurse was done with cleaning and checking out the little girl. She had wrapped her up in a blanket and brought her over to Joelle.

"She's perfectly healthy mommy."

Joelle took the little girl from the nurse. She couldn't believe that she actually had a little girl and she would have a little boy shortly too. She had never thought about it being twins.

"Guess this little girl was very good at hiding," Joelle spoke.

"Yeah guess she was but she's beautiful, just like her mommy."

Callen looked down at the little girl lying in Joelle's arms. She was just perfect. She was a red-head just like Joelle but she had Callen's blue eyes. Callen counted ten little perfect fingers and ten little perfect toes and a cute button-nose.

"She's just perfect."

"Yes she is."

About five minutes later Joelle had the urge to push again. The nurse took the baby and put her in the crib as the doctor took her position in between Joelle's legs.

"Alright Joelle, here we go again. When the contraction comes I want you to push."

Callen held Joelle's hand as Joelle gave it everything she got. This baby was out faster.

"Relax honey, he's out," Callen told her and wiped her head once the baby was out.

Immediately the room was filled with his cries. Callen cut the umbilical cord and the nurse went to clean the baby up and check him out.

"No more babies hiding out in there right doctor," Joelle said.

"No, no more babies."

"Good, cus I don't think I could go again."

"You did great honey, I love you," Callen spoke and gave Joelle a soft kiss on her head. "You did great Jo, I love you."

"I love you too."

"He's doing very well, he's perfectly healthy." The nurse handed the little boy to Joelle.

Callen looked at the little boy. He was just perfect, ten perfect fingers and toes, a cute little nose, blond hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Hey there little guy," Joelle said to the baby. "So you had a little sister in there too huh. You couldn't have told mommy about that huh?"

Callen moved over to the crib and picked the little girl up, his little girl. He couldn't believe it. All this time they thought they were going to have a little boy and now they had a little boy AND a little girl. He was now holding his little girl, a little girl who they were not expecting but were very happy to have. Callen sat down next to Joelle on the bed.

"Look at that, we have two now," Callen said.

"Yeah we do. I can't believe we have a boy and a girl."

"Yeah me neither, but they are perfect."

"Yes they are," Joelle smiled as she looked up to Callen. "Thank you for making me a mommy."

"Thank you for making me a daddy." Callen leaned forward and gave Joelle a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Do you have a name for the little babies?" The doctor asked.

"For the boy we do, but for the girl not yet. We weren't expecting a little girl so we never discussed girl names."

"That's okay, you can let the nurse know later. I'll be back later to check on you. Enjoy it."

"Thank you doctor, for everything."

"You're welcome."

The medical staff left the room and Callen and Joelle sat there with their two kids.

"So, I guess we better come up with a name for this little girl," Callen said.

"Yeah I guess we should."

They discussed names for a while. They each named a few names but the other didn't like them.

"How about Nora, Nora Callen?" Joelle suggested.

"Nora….. I like it. It sounds nice. Nora Callen. How about Nora Amelia Callen?"

"That sounds beautiful."

"What do you think little girl? Do you like Nora?" The little girl smiled up to Callen a little bit.

"I think she likes it."

"Alright, girl name settled and for the little boy we already had one."

"Yeah Jack, Jack Lucas Callen."

"Look at us now here, we have a little boy and a little girl."

"Yeah I can't believe it, but I'm very happy."

"Yeah me too."

Callen and Joelle looked at the little babies lying in their arms. This moment was just perfect. Sam was right. This was the most beautiful moment. And now Callen had two babies, a little boy and a little girl. He was very happy but also scared. He was still a bit scared about becoming a dad when it was just one baby but now it were two. He wondered how they would handle two little babies at home.

"Oh shoot," Joelle suddenly spoke. "We only have enough stuff for one baby and we don't have any clothes for the little girl."

"Yeah but don't worry about it honey. I will make sure everything is taken care off."

"Hi there," the nurse spoke as she walked in. "How's everything going here?"

"It's going very well," Joelle answered.

"Do you have names picked out already?"

"Yeah, we agreed on both names."

Joelle gave the names to the nurse who wrote the names on the wrist bands, on the cards in the cribs and on the birth papers. Callen and Joelle both signed the papers.

"Do you perhaps have a gift shop here where I can buy some baby clothes?" Callen asked. "We weren't expecting two babies so we have nothing for the little girl."

"Yes we do have a gift shop here where you can buy baby clothes. It's down in the lobby."

"Great thank you."

"I'll be back shortly to take the babies for their baths," the nurse spoke and left the room.

"I'll be right back honey, I'll just go pick out some clothes for the little girl. Will you be okay here?"

"Yes I'll be fine."

"Alright, be right back." Callen gave Joelle a kiss and quickly went down to the lobby.

Callen looked through the gift shop. They had some gift packages here for newborns. It contained a bodysuit, socks and a hat. They also had onesies. Callen picked out a white with pink stars bodysuit, a pink with white stars onesie with pink socks and a pink hat. Callen paid for it and quickly went upstairs.

"Those are cute G, she'll look great in them."

"They didn't have much here so I just took these. I will go to the store later and get some clothes for her."

"That's fine. But now we can at least dress her too."

"Well, it's time for their baths," the nurse spoke as she walked in. "Would you like to help us daddy?"

"Yeah of course. Can Joelle help too?"

"Sorry, she can't leave the bed just yet."

"It's okay G, you can do it yourself. You'll do great."

"Don't worry sir, I'll be there to help you."

"Alright." Callen gave Joelle a kiss. "I'll be back shortly, you just get some rest while I'm gone okay."

Callen grabbed the bag with the baby clothes and diapers and pushed the two cribs and followed the nurse. A bath was already waiting. Callen first picked up Nora. He put her on the changing table and took the blanket off of her.

"Alright, now slowly put the baby in the water." Callen first checked the water to make sure it wasn't too hot. "Keep your hand under her neck and with the other hand gently splash some water over her." Callen did as the nurse said. As Callen washed her the nurse took some pictures. "Alright very good. You can take her out now."

Callen took Nora out of the bath and put her on a towel on the changing table. He dried her off and then grabbed a diaper.

"Alright, now how does this go?"

"The first one is always tricky."

The nurse told Callen how to do it and then Callen dressed her. It was a bit tricky getting her arms in but Callen managed. He was actually quite proud of himself for dressing her.

"You look so cute," Callen spoke as he picked Nora up. "And you smell so nice."

Callen gave Nora a soft kiss on her head and put her down in her crib. He then did the same process with Jack. Jack cried a bit when Callen put him in the bath.

"It's okay buddy, daddy is just gonna wash you. It's okay buddy."

Callen slowly put Jack in the bath and just let him lay there for a second before washing him. Callen dried him off as well and dressed him too. He dressed Jack in a blue bodysuit and a Mickey Mouse onesie with matching hat and socks. He put Jack in his crib and took the babies back to the room.

"Hey mommy, here were are again. All freshly washed and dressed."

"Aww look at them. They look so cute."

"Yeah that they do."

"How did they do?"

"They both did fine. Jack cried a bit when I put him in first but he was okay after that. The nurse took some pictures for us."

Callen pulled out the camera and showed Joelle the pictures."

"Aww G, these are so cute. You really are a cute daddy."

"I hope I'll be a good daddy. I was scared enough as it was with one baby but now we have two."

"You'll do fine G. I can see that you already love them so much. You'll be a great daddy."

"I hope so."

"I know you will."

The babies had fallen asleep in their cribs so they just let them lay there.

"I'm just gonna make some calls," Callen softly spoke.

"Will you call my parents?"

"Yeah sure, unless you wanna call them yourself."

"No, it's okay. You can do it. I'm just gonna get some rest."

"Alright."

Callen gave her a soft kiss on hear head before walking into the hallway. He pulled his phone out and called Sam.

"Hey G," Sam answered the phone.

"Hey Sam, you busy?"

"Nah, we're just waiting for some new intel. What's up? Is the baby here?"

"Yes. We have a little boy."

"That's great G, congrats."

"And a little girl."

Sam wasn't sure he heard it right. "You have a boy and a girl? You have twins?"

"Yes we have, twins."

"Wow, I had no idea. You never said anything about twins."

"We didn't know about it. We thought we were getting a boy but the little girl was deep in the uterus so the doctor didn't see her."

"Wow that's something. Is everything okay with the both of them?"

"Yes everything is perfectly fine. They are both perfectly healthy and they are so cute."

"I told you this would be a perfect moment."

"Yes you did. It's amazing seeing your kids for the first time."

"I'm happy for you two G. What are their names?"

"Nora and Jack."

"Nice names. I'll tell the others and we'll come by after work."

"That's fine Sam."

"Take care of them."

"I will."

Callen hung up the phone and called Joelle's parents. They couldn't believe that Callen and Joelle had twins either. They would come by later too. Callen called Joelle's sister and brother too before going back into the room. Joelle had fallen asleep. Callen sat next to the bed on the chair and just looked at his two babies. They were so freaking adorable. Callen was totally in love with them already. They were just perfect and he loved their mommy more than anything. He finally had a family of his own now, a perfect little family.

About thirty minutes later Joelle woke up when Nora had decided to start crying.

"What's wrong sweetie?" Callen asked as he tried to calm her down but nothing was working.

"It think she's hungry G."

"You're hungry little girl? How about we go see mommy for some milk then?"

Callen handed her to Joelle. Joelle exposed her breast and Nora immediately latched on.

"There's a good girl," Joelle spoke to her. "G, could you grab a bib from the bag please?"

Callen grabbed a bib and handed it to Joelle. "She's a hungry little girl."

"Yes she is."

Callen grabbed the camera and took a picture of Joelle feeding Nora. As Joelle was feeding Nora Jack decided to start crying too. Callen moved to pick him up.

"It's okay buddy. Guess you're hungry too huh. But mommy is just feeding your sister so you'll just have to wait a little. Shhhh. It's okay buddy."

Callen tried to calm him down but it wasn't really working.

"Here G, why don't you take Nora so I can feed Jack," Joelle spoke once she was done feeding Nora. Callen handed Jack to Joelle and took Nora from her. "You need to burp her G."

"Uh…. Uhm…"

"Just put her on your chest with her head over your shoulder and gently rub and pad her back."

Callen did as Joelle told him. This was all so new to him but he was doing okay in his eyes. Callen sat down on the chair once Nora had burped. Callen grabbed the camera as he was holding Nora and took a picture of Joelle feeding Jack as well.

In the evening visiting hours Joelle's parents were the first to drop by.

"Hey you," Joelle's mother, Ellen, spoke as she walked into the room. "Congratulations sweetie."

"Thank you mom."

"Congratulations Greg."

"Thank you."

Joelle's father, Luke, congratulated them too.

"Wow twins, I didn't know you were having twins," Ellen said.

"We didn't either. The little girl was playing hide and seek so the doctor didn't see her."

"Oh was she now?" Ellen stood over their cribs. "They are so adorable. What are their names?"

"The little girl is named Nora Amelia and the little boy is named Jack Lucas."

"Aww cute names."

"You gave the boy the middle name of his grandpa?" Luke replied touched.

"Yes we did dad. We thought that would be nice."

"Thank you sweetie."

"You're welcome dad."

"And Amelia? Is that your mother Greg?" Ellen asked.

"No she was my sister. She died when we were young."

"I'm so sorry. They are so cute. I'm so happy for you two."

"Thanks mom," Joelle said.

"We brought you a little something," Ellen spoke as she handed Joelle two packages.

"Thank you mom."

"May I pick her up?"

"Of course mom."

Ellen picked Nora up and Luke picked Jack up. Callen took some pictures of his kids being held by their grandparents as Joelle opened the packages. In the first package was a navy blue dress with pink floral print, a pink cardigan and a navy blue diaper coverer and pink slippers.

"Aww, this is so cute. Thank you. Look at that G."

"Aww, she'll look so cute in that."

In the other package was a grey and white stripped overalls with Mickey Mouse on it and a blue short sleeved t-shirt under it.

"Thank mom and dad. These are so cute."

A little later Callen's team and Joelle's brother and sister arrived as well. From Sam they got a red shirt with Mickey Mouse on it with a pair of black shorts, a white bodysuit with blue ends with dogs on it and a pair of blue joggers, a blue bodysuit with monkeys on it and a pair of dark blue joggers and a pack of three navy nautical socks for Jack and for Nora a dark pink bodysuit with daisies and a pair of light pink joggers, a white bodysuit with pink ends and pink hearts on it with a dark pink pair of joggers, a pack with three pink navy nautical socks and a red chiffon tiered tunic with white hearts on it and white leggings. From Kensi and Deeks they got a white dress with multi colored butterflies on it with a pink cardigan and in the same print a sun hat and pink butterfly sandals for Nora, for Jack they got a white, blue, grey and dark blue plaid shirt with plaid cuff jeans and grey crib sneakers. From Nell and Eric they got grey pajamas with red ends with Mickey Mouse on it, white pajamas with blue ends and stars and moons on it and a navy blue sunhat for Jack, for Nora they got a blue denim sunhat with bow on it, light pink pajamas with dark pink ends and Minnie Mouse on it and white pajamas with pink dots and pink ends with Winnie the Pooh and Piglet on it and Sweet & cuddly. From Granger they got plush blue and pink teddy bear. From Hetty they got a Bright starts flowers & friends play mat and Bright starts cuddly crocodile play mat. From Joelle's sister they got a black costume bodysuit with a red tutu skirt with pink dots on it and red sleeves with pink dots on it with Minnie Mouse on the bodysuit and a headband with bow and a pink footed pajamas with Minnie Mouse and cutie on it for Nora and for Jack blue footed Mickey Mouse pajamas with a bib with Mickey Mouse on it and a red pair of overalls with an elephant on it and blue and dark blue stripped t-shirt.

"Thank you guys for everything," Callen said. "I'm sure the kids will love it."

"I still can't believe you have twins G," Sam replied.

"Yeah I know, me neither. But look at them, they are so cute."

"That they are. I told you this would be magical," Sam replied and squeezed his partner's shoulder.

"Yeah, it really is. I love them so much already."

Everyone got a chance to hold Jack and Nora. They didn't mind at all. They were content as long as they were being held. Once the visiting hours were over everyone went back home. Joelle fed both babies before Callen placed them in their cribs. They were peacefully sucking on their pacifiers and they soon fell asleep. Callen sat next to Joelle on the bed and they looked at their little babies sleeping. They were so cute and adorable. They could look at them forever. They were so in love with them already. Callen now had a little family of his own. He would do everything he could to protect them and give them a good home. He just hoped he would be a good daddy and that they wouldn't get hurt.


	31. Chapter 31

"Hi," the doctor spoke softly as she walked into the room. "How's it going here?"

"It's going very well. I've just fed them and they have just fallen asleep."

"Did they eat well?"

"Yes they are eating very well."

"That's great. Everything is very well with you and the babies but since we had the surprise of twins I would like to keep you overnight."

"Is that necessary doctor?"

"Yes, just a precaution, nothing to worry about."

"Alright, I guess then. Can Greg stay with me?"

"Sorry, no visitors are allowed overnight."

"Okay I understand. Thank you for everything doctor."

"You're welcome. Just rest up. And since visiting hours are over, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave Greg."

"Of course. I'll just say goodbye and then I'll be on my way."

"That's fine."

The doctor left the room.

"Sorry I can't stay honey."

"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine. You just enjoy your last night of peace and quiet."

"I will, you just take you rest. I'll make sure we have stuff for the little girl when she comes home okay."

"I don't know if they have it in stores immediately, like cribs and furniture."

"I'll see what they have okay."

"Alright. I'm glad you were here with me when these babies were born."

"Of course honey, I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world." Callen gave Joelle a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Callen moved over to the cribs and gave both babies a soft kiss. "Be good to mommy tonight, don't keep her up too much," Callen softly spoke.

"Bye honey." Callen gave Joelle one more kiss.

"Bye honey."

Callen gave his kids one more look before leaving the room. It was just so hard to leave them. They were so freaking cute. Callen loved them so much already. It was Wednesday now, but the Walmart supercenter store in Anaheim was open till 11pm every day so. It was close to the hospital so Callen went there, it was near the Santa Ana Freeway.

"Excuse me, can you maybe help me?" Callen asked as salesperson on the babies department.

"Yes of course, what can I do for you?"

"I was looking for some nursery furniture but I need to take it home today or tomorrow morning."

"Today or tomorrow already? Aren't you a little late with nursery shopping then?"

"No, we already had a nursery ready at home but during the birth it turned out to be twins so we don't have enough at home for two babies."

"Ah I see. Let me see what we have in storage." The saleswoman walked to her computer and Callen followed her. "We have a couple of cribs that are available for pickup today."

"Great. By any chance a crib and changer table in one?"

"No, sorry sir."

"That's okay. What do you have?" The saleswoman turned the screen of the computer so Callen could look with her.

Luckily they had everything that Callen needed. He picked a Delta's Children Products Gateway 4-in-1 fixed-side crib in white wood with matching mattress, a Delta's Children changing table with pad in white wood, a South Shore Cotton Candy Armoire with a door on the left side, three open selves on the right and a drawer underneath in white wood, a Stockcraft glider and ottoman in white wood with pink seating, a RiverRidge kids horizontal bookcase in white wood, two pink Minnie Mouse storage boxes, two pink Disney princesses storage boxes, two Delta Children pink printed storage boxes, two pink polka dot Badger baskets, a Delta Children tall nursery clothing hamper in pink, a moses basket with pink gingham liner, a Graco Extend2Fit convertible car set in black and pink colors, a Baby Trend sit N stand double stroller in grey and green colors(Callen would return the stroller they already had), a Gracko Pack 'N Play play yard with cuddle cove baby seat in black and pink, a Graco comfy cove swing in black and pink colors with pink flowers, a pink Minnie Mouse Garden delights bouncer, an Infantino See Play Go Sweet Safari Twist & Fold Activity Gym & Play Mat in pink, a diaper bag, an Infantino black flip carrier, a Sumersault GiGi Floral 9-Piece Nursery in a Bag Crib Bedding Set which included a comforter, two different fitted crib sheets, blanket, dust ruffle, window valence, three wall hanging and bumper, a bedtime originals butterfly meadow collection lamp and shade, a Nurture wings music mobile in pink with butterflies, a plush pink Minnie Mouse, a plush pink teddy bear, a Brewster Home Fashions Hide and Seek Leo Country Club 15' x 6'' Wildlife 3D Embossed Border Wallpaper, a few hangers for in the closet, a raspberry colored Eclipse Kids Kendall Blackout Window Curtain Panel, two girl surfboard bookends with pink base, a pink Fisher-Price 4-in-1 Grow-with-Me Tub, diapers, baby wipes, bottles, a Gerber Terry girl bibs pack with three bibs, one pink with pink giraffes on it, one white with pink edges and Hugs & Kisses on it and one white with blue edges and lovebirds on it, Child Of Mine by Carter's Newborn Baby Girl Bibs pack with three bibs, one blue with pink edges and a pink bird on it, one white with blue edges and different color flowers on it and one white with pink edges and I heart my daddy, a pack with two pacifiers, one light pink with a rose on it and one purple with a purple bird on it, a baby monitor, an outfit with white leggings with blue hearts on it and a blue long sleeved shirt with a gold heart on it and Sweet girl, a pack with three bodysuits, one pink with a blue flower on it, one blue with daisies on it and one white with kitties on it, a pack with six socks with animal prints, a short sleeved pink tunic with a pink and white striped top and a pink chiffon skirt with roses on it with a pair of white leggings, a pack with six butterfly print socks, a pack with two pajamas, one light pink with dark pink dots and a butterfly and one white with multiple colored butterflies, a pack with six Terry Crew socks, a pack with three tapered ankle pants, one dark pink, one dark blue and one pink and white striped, purple and pink fleece booties, a pink floral bubble jacket, a pack with five hats, one dark salmon, one dark pink, one light pink, one white with flowers on it and one white with pink stripes, a Minnie Mouse skirted tunic with jeggings, a butterfly ruffled eyelet top with knit leggings, a racerback dress with pink and blacked strips and a cropped pink cardigan and pink tights, a pink butterfly robe with booties, a pack with two pajamas, one pink camo and one white with black dots and pink edges with a panda, a long sleeved pink bodysuit with butterflies on it, a pack with five bodysuits, one purple with I love mommy, one dark pink, one white with pink stripes, one white with foxes on it and one pink with a fox on it, a reusable pink swim diaper with water melons, pink sneaker shoes, leopard print flats, a WallPops social butterfly decals, Fun4Walls butterfly and flowers decals and butterfly meadow collection wall appliques.

Callen paid for everyone and rented a trailer so he could take everything home with him, he would return the trailer tomorrow when he went to pick Joelle, Jack and Nora up from the hospital. Once home Callen unloaded everything. They would make the other bedroom, the one partly above the living room, the room for the little girl. They used it as washing room now but they would just move it somewhere else. That room had those shutter door openings in the walls but they had already had them closed up. Callen put the washing stuff in their bedroom for now. He put everything in the room and would put it together in the morning. He still couldn't believe he actually had twins. All this time they thought it would be a baby boy, but now they had a baby boy and a baby girl. He wondered how he and Joelle would be able to handle to little babies. But he loved the little babies so much already. They were so cute, he couldn't keep his eyes off of them. He really missed them already. Once everything was upstairs Callen put the wallpaper border up, so he could put the furniture together in the morning, before going to sleep. Callen couldn't really sleep that night. He kept thinking about his two little babies. He hoped everything would be alright with two little babies at home. He didn't know anything about becoming a father but he would do his very best to give Jack and Nora a loving home. He would make sure they would have everything Callen never had as a kid. He was scared but he also knew he loved Jack and Nora so much. Sure he would have to learn some things but it would be okay, wouldn't it?

He was up early the next morning. After having breakfast Callen went to get started on the room for Nora. Callen went to put together the furniture first. Once everything was up and in its place Callen made the crib, put the clothes in the armoire and the diapers in the changing table. Callen really liked how the nursery looked. Their little girl would be very happy here.

Once everything was done Callen left to go pick up Joelle and their kids. He first went to return the trailer and get some more stuff. He went to Carter's. It was in the same mall as Walmart.

Callen bought a blue printed dress with white poncho sweater and brown moccasins, a pink shirt with flowers on it with a quilted chambray vest and light gray leggings, a green jumpsuit with blue hearts on it, a pink hooded fleece jumpsuit, a black cardigan, a red cardigan, a blue with floral print French Terry hoodie, a pink knit cardigan, a blue dress with floral print and a yellow sweater, a mint green pair of pajamas with a butterfly on it, a green bib with daddy loves this girl and a white bib with pink edges and flowers on it for Nora. For Jack a yellow and blue checkered blouse bodysuit with denim overralls, a gray French Terry hoodie with dog paws and a white pair of pajamas with blue dog paws on it.

Callen went to Target as well, which was just on the other side of the Riverside Freeway. Callen bought a white with multicolored dots dress with orange edges and an orange band in the middle with orange diaper covers, a navy blue colored dress with pink hearts on it with navy blue leggings, a white textured top with beige leggings with brown bows on them, a dress bodysuit with a pink top with Minnie Mouse on it and a tutu skirt with blue Hawaiian flowers, a white dress with pink flowers on it and a blue white dotted cardigan with pink edges, a pack with three Minnie Mouse bodysuits, a pair of red pajamas with pink edges and Minnie Mouses on it, a pink and purple floral romper, red glitter flats, three wall hangings with butterflies, a tutu cute tulle pink photo frame, a set of two little princess photo frames, a Graco pack 'n play play yard in pink and black with a removable shelf in the middle and dangling flowers and the same in light blue with black with a dangling star and clouds.

Before going to the hospital Callen went to Babies 'r' us as well, it was near Target. Callen bought a pink rose tiered ruffle top with matching pants, a pink/light pink printed empire waist dress with pink leggings, a pink top with a ballerina on it and a tutu bottom with black and white polka dot leggings, a short sleeved romper with a purple top and Chevron bottom, a pair of pink glitter slip on sneakers, some tights, black and white zigzag flats with a little white pom pom on it, a pack with three pink socks, a pack with six socks in pink, navy blue, mint green, red, blue and yellow, a pack with two hats, one pink and one white with little hearts on it, a pack with two pacifiers, one pink with I love mommy and one white with a pink heart, a pack with two pacifiers, one pink with a pink ladybug on it and one white with a pink owl on it, a pack with three bibs, one white with pink edges and flowers on it, one white with blue edges and owls on it and one white with pink edges and an owl on it with who's the cutest?, a white bib with pink edges and daddy's little princess and a Pixie baby pink with aqua night light.

After this Callen drove to the hospital. He went up to the maternity ward and walked into Joelle's room.

"Good morning mommy," Callen spoke softly in case the twins were asleep.

"Good morning daddy," Joelle replied as she was breastfeeding Jack.

Callen walked up to Joelle and gave her a kiss. "Hey little guy." Callen softly stroked Jack's cheek. Nora had noticed her daddy was here so she started fussing. Callen moved over to the crib and picked her up. "Hey little girl, yeah daddy's here." Callen gave Nora a soft kiss on her head. "Daddy missed you. How did you and your brother do last night? Did you keep mommy up?"

"They woke up a few times but it was okay. Did you get the stuff for the nursery?"

"Yes, I got everything and bought clothes and stuff for Nora too. You're gonna love the nursery, it's beautiful. And the clothes and stuff are so cute."

"I bet they are. Do you have the two car seats with you?"

"Yes they are in the car."

"Okay good. The doctor already came by and said I could go home."

"Great. I really missed you three at home."

"We missed you too."

Once Joelle had burped Jack she put him down in his crib so she could get dressed.

"Yeah, we're going home," Callen spoke to Nora. "You, me, mommy and your brother are all going home. You were a little surprise but your nursery is all ready for you. Daddy made sure it was ready. You're gonna love it there."

Once Joelle was dressed the nurse walked in with a wheelchair. Callen had taken the stuff they had gotten home already yesterday. Callen carried Joelle's bag as Joelle carried Jack and Nora. The nurse pushed the wheelchair downstairs. Once they were outside Joelle got up from the wheelchair after handing Jack to Callen. They walked to the car and strapped the kids in. Callen drove them back to the house.

"I was thinking about also buying wall letters to spell their names for above their cribs or something," Callen spoke as they drove home.

"That's a great idea. Did you buy them already?"

"No, I went to Babies 'r' us, Walmart and Target but they didn't have nice letters there, at least not for our names."

"Well there are more stores. I can look online for that."

"Sure that's fine, I can pick them up from work, if it's near there and if they have nice ones."

"Great, I'll see what they have first."

Callen carried Jack in in his car seat and Joelle carried Nora in in her car seat.

"Welcome home Nora and Jack," Joelle spoke as they walked in. "You're just gonna love it here, I know."

Callen put Jack in his car seat on the couch and went to get the stuff from the car. Callen put the two play yards up downstairs, in the space on the right of the house between the living room and the kitchen. They already had a play yard for Jack, but that was a complete travel bed set. These were just a play yard so they would use these at home. Callen put the play pens with the back short side against the wall next to each other. Joelle put Nora on it and Callen put Jack in it.

"Aww look at them lying here," Joelle stated.

"Yeah they are so cute."

Callen grabbed the camera and took a few pictures of them. Joelle looked at the stuff Callen had bought today.

"Aww G, these clothes are all so cute. She'll look great in them."

"There's more upstairs in her closet already."

"You did well honey. We have enough for our little girl."

"Yeah I thought so too. I also bought a new stroller and returned the one we had already. This is a double stroller, so it's easier to handle on your own. It has two seaters behind each other so it can fit through the doors."

"Great. I'm just gonna go check out the nursery."

"Sure. Hope you love it."

"I'm sure I will."

Joelle gave Callen a quick kiss before walking upstairs. Callen stayed downstairs and looked over Jack and Nora in their playpen. They lay there peacefully looking up at their mobiles and sucking on their pacifier.

"Daddy is so happy to have you home. Daddy missed you two and mommy last night. Daddy is a little new at this so you're gonna have to help daddy, okay. Daddy loves you two so very much and daddy is so happy to have you two with mommy."

Callen bent down and gave both kids a soft kiss. Callen stroked their little hands with his fingers and both babies tried to wrap their hands around Callen's finger.

Joelle walked into the nursery and she couldn't believe her eyes. It looked so beautiful.


	32. Chapter 32

Joelle looked around the room. It looked so beautiful. Callen had put the crib against the bathroom wall, right of the bathroom door, the armoire against the wall above the living room on the right side, the changing table immediately right on the door, the rocking chair next to the armoire and the bookcase underneath the window. The two pink Minnie Mouse and the two pink Disney princesses storage boxes Callen had placed in the bookcase with the pink printed storage boxes in between them. The two pink polka dot baskets Callen had placed in the open shelves of the armoire. The clothing hamper was placed in the corner, next to the changing table. Callen had hung the curtains and the window valence in front of the way, hung the floral wall hangings above the changing table, placed the music mobile on the crib and placed the table lamp on the bookcase. The two bookends were placed on the bookcase as well. Joelle looked at the things in the closet. All the clothes were so cute. Callen had done really well. He had bought a perfect bedroom for their little girl and the most adorable clothes. It was just perfect. Their little girl would be very happy here.

Joelle walked back down, joined Callen on the couch and gave him a kiss.

"Thank you for the bedroom and all the stuff G, it's just perfect."

"You like it?"

"I love it. It's just perfect. Our little girl will be very happy there. It's a perfect bedroom. Thank you."

"You're welcome honey."

"Just look at them lying there. They are so cute."

"Yeah they are. I still can't believe we actually have twins."

"Yeah I know me neither. I never suspected that. But I'm very happy, we have a little boy and a little girl now."

"Yeah we do." Callen turned Joelle to face him. Joelle could see the love in his eyes. "Thank you for giving these two beautiful kids."

"You're welcome G. Thank you too, I couldn't have down it without you," Joelle joked.

"Haha yeah that's true. I'm very happy to have them with you."

"Yeah me too. I couldn't have asked for a better daddy."

"I don't know much about being a daddy but I promise you I will be the best daddy I can be."

"You'll be fine Grisha. I know you will be a great daddy. Sure, we'll make mistake sometimes but every parent does that. Just love them, that's the most important thing and I know you do."

"Oh yes, I love them so much and I love you so much as well."

"I love you more."

Callen pulled Joelle to him and kissed her. They just sat on the couch and watched their two little babies. It would be a little getting used to, to having two babies at the house and probably a lot of sleepless nights. But that was absolutely no problem for Callen. He could deal with a few nights of not so much sleep. In the afternoon they put the babies down for their afternoon nap. Joelle grabbed her laptop and started searching for those wooden wall letters for the kids' names as Callen went to do some laundry and clean up.

"Hey Grisha, what do you think of these?" Joelle asked as Callen walked by in the kitchen.

Callen sat down at the table next to Joelle and they looked at the letters Joelle had found online. It was from an online store. They looked at the letters Joelle had found. They were very nice. They decided on butterfly wooden letters for Nora. The N and R were white with butterflies and flowers on it and the O and A were pink with white swirls on it. They chose baby pink ribbon bows for hanging with the letters. For Jack they picked Monkey letters. The J and C were light green with monkeys and leaves on it and the A and K were yellow with a green bush on the bottom and a monkey peaking behind the bush. They choose emerald green bows for these letters. The letters were all eight inches tall. They also bought a Monkey wall clock. It was a brown monkey hanging from a branch with a clock in his belly. And for Nora they bought a pink and purple round clock with butterflies on it. The clocks were in stock but the letters would take about five to eight weeks since they had to be custom made.

Around 3pm the babies woke up. Callen went to get Nora and Joelle went to get Jack. After getting them dressed again they took them downstairs. Joelle sat on the couch feeding Jack. Callen sat down next to her with Nora in his arms.

"Hey little girl, you're such a little cutie, yes you are. Daddy loves you. You really were a little surprise to mommy and daddy but a very nice surprise. Daddy and mommy don't mind one bit to have you here. A cute little miracle." A few seconds later Nora started fussing as well, letting them know she was hungry. "Yeah just a minute sweetie. Mommy is just feeding your brother. Shh, it's okay, it's coming."

"Maybe I should fill up some bottles with breast milk so you can feed them too when they are both crying or at night."

"Yeah I think that's a good idea."

Once Joelle was done feeding Jack she and Callen switched babies so she could feed Nora while Callen burped Jack. Once their milk had gone down they put the babies down on their play mats and sat down next to them on the ground. Callen had the camera and Joelle had the video camera. The babies were smiling as they looked up to the things dangling above their heads. They enjoyed some time with the babies until Callen went to prepare dinner. Joelle stayed there with the kids. She felt so blessed to have them with Callen. They were both just perfect and so cute. She was sure Callen would be a great daddy and Nora would have him wrapped around her little finger in no time. They were just a day old but Joelle loved them so much already and she knew Callen did too. She couldn't believe that their little boy was finally here and they had a surprise little girl as well. It was just perfect, their little family was perfect. She was really looking forward to family life with Callen. She knew this was all new to him but she also knew that he would make sure his kids got everything he never had as a kid. It was so cute to see Callen with their kids, he was an amazing daddy already.

When dinner was done they put the kids in their bouncy chairs on the kitchen counter. After dinner they put the kids in bath and Joelle fed them both before putting them in bed.

Since they had the surprise of twins Callen didn't complete the entire gift baskets he had made for Joelle so he would just wait to give them to her until they were complete.

Once the babies were asleep Callen and Joelle went downstairs and enjoyed a nice quiet evening on the couch.

"Hetty gave me the rest of the week off," Callen spoke.

"That's nice of her."

"So I'm gonna be here around the house to help you with the babies."

"That's nice. I like that."

"How are you feeling?"

"Still a bit tired but most of all happy with our two little miracles."

"Yeah, they are just amazing. I'm really happy to have them with you."

"Me too. We have a family now, we are a family the four of us."

"Yes we are. I never thought I would have a real family of my own."

"You do have one G and we're not going anywhere."

"That's good, cus I don't want you too. I'm really glad you decided to come back into my life."

"Me too, I just missed you too much. I couldn't live without you. And I'm glad that I did cus now we have two beautiful little babies."

"Yeah, I'm glad you came back and look at where we are now, engaged with two little beautiful babies."

"I love you Grisha," Joelle spoke, her voice full with passion.

"I love you too Joelle," Callen replied in the same voice.

They had to go upstairs from time to time for a fussing baby. Before going to bed Joelle fed them both once more.

"I'm glad to have you home again," Callen spoke as Joelle crawled against him once they were in the bed. "I missed you next to me last night."

"I missed you too last night. It's good to be in my own bed again."

"Goodnight honey," Callen said and gave Joelle a kiss.

"Goodnight baby."

Joelle lay her head down on Callen's chest and snuggled against him. A few hours later they were woken up by a crying baby.

"I'll go," Callen said and gave Joelle a quick kiss before getting out of bed.

He looked at the baby monitors and saw that it was Jack's baby monitor so he walked to Jack's room.

"Hey little buddy," Callen spoke softly as he walked into the room. "What's wrong?" Callen picked him up and noticed Jack had a wet diaper. "Ah I see the problem." Callen took Jack over to the changing table and changed Jack's diaper. "There, that's better huh buddy."

Callen gave Jack his pacifier and rocked Jack in his arms until he fell asleep again. Carefully Callen placed Jack in his crib and went back to the bedroom. Just as he got in Nora started crying. Callen jumped out of the bed and went to Nora's room. Nora needed a diaper change as well. He did the same with Nora as he did with Jack.

That night they had to go out a few times, neither one of them got much sleep. The babies were up early in the morning. Callen went to get them and brought them to the bedroom. He handed Nora to Joelle and sat down next to her on the bed with Jack in his arms. Joelle fed Nora first and after that Jack. They just sat in the bed for a while with the babies in their arms.

"Look at us lying here now," Joelle said. "With our two cute little babies."

"Yeah, it's a perfect way to spend the morning."

"Yes it is."

They stayed in bed for a while before getting out. After having breakfast Callen went to the store to get some groceries and also some things for in the gift baskets. Callen went to Kmart. He bought a light salmon colored tunic with different colored bows on it and a pair of black leggings, a mint green top with ruffled floral print layers and a pair of white leggings with floral print bows on the bottom, a white tunic top with mint green tutu bottom with sweet like mommy and Minnie Mouse design on it with grey leggings with black and mint green bows on it, denim overalls with white flower on them and a pink long sleeved shirt, a flannel plaid top in beige, red, dark blue and black colors, a pink peasant top with zebra on it but this was for three to six months so Nora couldn't immediately fit it, a pink pair of pajamas with dots on it and my heart belongs to daddy, a white pair of pajamas with pink hearts on it and sleep, play, cuddle, a purple and white stripped bodysuit with daddy's girl on it, black dress flats with a strap, brown crib shoes with pink floral print, white with black polka dot shoes with a pink strap and bow, a pack with two Minnie Mouse bibs, one white with pink edges and red Minnie Mouses and one red with a Minnie Mouse on it and in white lil' cutie, a white and pink stripped bib with a butterfly on it for Nora. The bodysuit and bibs Callen would put in the basket. Callen also bought a soft Minnie Mouse book, a bear rattle, a pack of four cupcake squirts for in bath, a pack with two socks, one white with a butterfly band on it and one pink with pink dots band on it and a pack with hair accessories for in Nora's gift basket.

For Jack Callen already had a soft Mickey Mouse book and foot rattle with a zebra and tiger on it. He also bought a blue bodysuit with a blue bear on it and out of this world adorable, a pack with two socks, one grey with a black football on it and one with a blue baseball, grey football and orange basketball on it, a pack with three bibs, all white with navy blue edges, one with navy blue, light blue, green, grey and white stripes, one with two giraffes on it and mommy loves me and one with small giraffes, lions and elephants on it, a fox rattle and a pack with Cookie Monster, Elmo and Ernie bath squirts for in the gift basket.

He also bought grey overalls with Tigger on it and orange and white striped shirt, a button down dark blue shirt with light blue sleeves with a Mickey Mouse on it and Super awesome, with light blue and blue striped pants with Mickey Mouse feet, denim with plaid white and blue sneakers and beige boat shoes. He got some groceries before going back home. When he came home the babies were peacefully laying in their play pens, looking up at the toys dangling above them. Callen put the groceries away in the kitchen and went upstairs to finish the baby baskets.

A little later he came downstairs with the two gift baskets.

"I hadn't finished them yet, well almost for Jack but nothing for Nora yet so I'm giving these to you now," Callen spoke as he put the two gift baskets on the coffee table.

"Aww thanks Grisha."

"I also bought these things."

Callen showed Joelle the things he had bought.

"Aww they are too cute. You really are great at buying baby stuff."

"Yeah, well everything is so cute."

"Yeah that's true."

"Well since you didn't have the baskets earlier you can open three gifts from each basket now."

Joelle first took Nora's basket. She opened the bibs and the rattle. From Jack's gift basket Joelle got the foot rattles, soft book and the bath squirts.

"Aww so cute G, thank you." Joelle leaned over to Callen and gave him a kiss.

She put the rattle in Nora's play pen and put the soft book in Jack's playpen and put the foot rattles on. Jack immediately started to wiggle his legs and smiled when he heard the sound.

"Aww look at that little smile on his face," Joelle remarked.

"Yeah it's so cute."

…

Joelle and Callen had settled into a good rhythm with the kids. Sure it was hard work sometimes but Callen and Joelle had it handled. Callen mostly went out at night. They both loved having the kids around the house. Nora was really starting to be a daddy's girl. She loved being held by Callen. Jack didn't really have a preference.

It was Monday morning now so Callen had to go back to work.

"Do you really have to go back to work?" Joelle asked as Callen was getting dressed.

"Yes, unfortunately I do. I wish I could stay home but I've gotta get to work again, someone has gotten protect the city of Los Angeles."

"Just be careful. I don't want to raise these babies by myself."

"I promise I'll be careful honey, I have no intensions of making you a single parent."

"Okay good."

"Just take it easy today and you can always call me."

"I know." Callen leaned over and gave Joelle a kiss. "Be safe."

"Always, love you."

"Love you too."

"Bye Nora, bye Jack," Callen spoke and gave both babies a kiss. They were in their bed already since they had woken up already. "Bye honey." Callen gave Joelle one more kiss.

"Bye honey."

It was so hard to leave his two little babies at home. Callen didn't want to go but he had to. He gave both babies one more kiss before leaving.

"Morning," Callen spoke as he walked into the bullpen.

"Morning," Sam replied, he was the only one there. "How are the two babies?"

"They are great, they are just so perfect. Joelle and I love having them around the house. They are just so cute."

"Look at you, all infected with the daddy fever."

"Yeah I never thought I would become a daddy but I love it. I didn't want to come to work this morning, I didn't want to leave them."

"I had that too when my kids were born, I wanted to stay at home with them. Did you get everything for the nursery already?"

"Yeah, I went to Walmart after visiting hours and I bought everything. Luckily they had some things in storage so I could take it right away. We have everything now."

"That's good. I'm happy for you and Joelle, you two look really happy together."

"Yeah we are. I'm happy to have her in my life again and to have these babies with her."

…..

Nora and Jack were now two weeks old. They were so freaking cute. Callen and Joelle both loved them so much. Jack and Nora started to sleep through the night a little more now. Callen loved to come home at the end of the day to see his kids. He hated when work kept him late and he couldn't see his babies before they went to bed.

Today was a hard day at work. They had a very pressing case that they needed to wrap up really soon. They were after a high-value target and they needed to go to Syria to finish up the case. Callen really didn't want to go, he didn't want to leave their babies and Joelle at home but he had to go, they all had to go. He wondered how Joelle would take it.


	33. Chapter 33

Callen knew Joelle probably wasn't going to like it and he had no time to go home before leaving. After packing up his stuff Callen quickly called Joelle.

"Hey G," Joelle answered the phone. "Are you on your way home?"

Callen had called earlier saying he would have to work late. Callen took a deep sigh. "No unfortunately not. In fact I won't be home in a while. We have to go somewhere for this case, out of the country."

"Oh." Callen heard in Joelle's voice that she didn't like it one bit. "For how long?"

"I'm not sure. I'm really sorry about this Jo."

"It's your job G. Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise Jo, I promise I'll come back in one piece."

"Okay."

"I'm really sorry I'm leaving you alone with Jack and Nora."

"It's okay G, I'm sure I'll manage and otherwise I'll ask my mom to help. Don't worry about it G, just focus on the case and come back to me."

"I will honey. Give Jack and Nora a kiss for me."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too."

"G, we gotta go," Sam interrupted.

"I've gotta go Jo. I'll try to call you when I can. I'm really sorry."

"We both know this could happen, be safe out there."

"I will. Love you."

"Love you too."

Callen hung up the phone and went with the others. Callen really didn't want to leave but he knew this could happen. He was just glad it didn't happen when Joelle went into labor. But their kids were just two weeks old, Callen didn't want to leave Joelle alone with them for a longer period. But they both knew that this could happen with Callen's job, but that didn't mean that Callen had to like it. He just hoped they would be over with the case fast so they could go home.

"How did Joelle take it?" Sam asked his partner, shocking him out of his thoughts.

"She said she was okay with it but I could hear she didn't like it. And I don't like it either, I don't want to leave her at home with our two little newborns."

"I know G, I had that too when Aiden and Kamran were born. I can ask Michelle to check in on her if you want."

"Nah it's okay, she said she would call her mother if she needed to, but thanks."

"We'll be back home in no time G."

From the airport in Jordan they went towards Syria. They changed into some clothes that wouldn't stand out in the dessert. With their guns they made their way up to the location their target was hiding out.

"Confirmation. That's him. That's Asakeem," Deeks spoke.

"Yep. Be a whole lot easier just to shoot him," Kensi replied as she looked through her sniper rifle.

"I'd like to get out of here alive, if possible," Sam stated.

"Yeah, cus going and grabbing him is gonna be so much safer," Deeks spoke.

"Kensi, Deeks, this starts going south, you get the hell out of here," Callen told them.

"Not a chance," Kensi said.

"Well, there's a little bit of a chance, though, right? I mean, if it goes like, really south, then we can go?" Deeks remarked.

"Shh."

"Moving," Sam announced.

"I got you."

Callen and Sam moved closer and waited for an opportunity to grab Asakeem. He came outside and Sam and Callen grabbed him and took him with them before quickly getting the hell out of dodge. They went to the rally point where the helicopter was waiting for them to take them to the USS Carl Vinson.

Once they were inside the chopper the banter started between Kensi and Deeks.

"Guys, don't make me stop this chopper," Callen spoke with a smirk, as he was trying to sleep. "You're setting a very poor example for our guest."

"You're all very smug," Asakeem spoke.

"Actually, no, I'm sarcastic, she's goofy, he's aloof, and he's much bigger than me, so I don't say anything condescending about him. And you, you're out of the terrorism business," Deeks summed up.

"I'm a drop of water in an unstoppable ocean of change."

"I don't see any water out here. All I see is a whole lot of dirt," Sam told him. Suddenly the helicopter started shaking. "We've been hit, hang on."

They all tried to brace themselves as the helicopter went down. Callen could only think of one thing as they went down, Joelle and their kids. He really didn't want to die like this. He wanted to go home and see them again. The crash must have knocked them out because when they came to the helicopter was in pieces and they had some aches.

"G, yo, wake up man," Sam spoke as Callen started to come to and Sam helped him sit up.

"I think I'm sitting on one of my kidneys." Sam got up and checked Asakeem. "He dead?"

"Not that lucky."

"Kens! Deeks!" Callen called since there was no sign of them. The helicopter had split into multiple parts.

"Over here!" Deeks called back.

"Check on them," Callen told Sam. "I'll check the flight crew."

The both got up and Callen went into the cabin and found both pilots dead. Once he checked on the pilots he grabbed his and Sam's guns and walked up to where the rest of the team was. Sam walked up to Callen.

"Pilots?" Callen shook his head.

"Everyone here all right?" Callen asked.

"Kensi's stuck, but she says she's okay."

"They must have used a rocket launcher to take us down. How far do you think we are from those guys who shot it?"

"Not far enough. This terrain may slow 'em down a bit, but I guarantee you they're already on the way."

"Well we're not hanging around for them to get here." Sam grabbed his weapon from Callen. "We need to put some space between us and this crash site."

"Yeah, well I guess we better get Kensi out of there and find Deeks some boots."

They looked around for things they could use to get the chopper off of Kensi but so far everything they tried wasn't working. They couldn't get Kensi out of there. They were trying but had to stop because the helicopter started shifting.

"Baby? Baby? Kens? Guys, she's cold." Deeks spoke.

"She's got no radial pulse," Sam stated.

"Baby."

"She's got a carotid."

"So, what does that mean?"

"It means her blood pressure is dropping."

"It means we need to get her out of here now," Callen added.

"Son of a bitch," Deeks stated.

Sam and Deeks went to pack Kensi's neck in case she hurt it as Callen tried to call for a way out of there. They needed to get Kensi out of there so they could move. The people who shot them down were probably on their way. Callen and Sam went to look to see if they could find something to tip the helicopter over with, just enough so they could get Kensi out of there. Callen found a couple of ropes and an inflatable cushion they could use. They secured the lines to the helicopter and to their backpacks. Callen and Sam would pull as Deeks pushed and pulled the strap on the cushion.

"She's out!" Deeks spoke a little later and Callen and Sam stopped pulling.

It was worse than they thought. Kensi's leg was injured pretty badly and she had lost some blood. They were all concerned about Kensi but they needed to move. Sam tried to fix her leg up as best as possible as Callen kept watch.

"Think we've controlled the bleeding. She still got a carotid, but it's weak."

"I'll stay with here. You guys should good," Deeks offered.

"We're not leaving you," Callen replied.

"Come on. We both know, if we all stay here, we're gonna die. And I'm cool with that. I mean, I'm not cool with that, but I'm obviously not gonna leave her."

"None of us are," Sam said. "If she doesn't have surgery within six hours, she's gonna lose this leg. We're here together."

"And what if we don't get help?"

"Then we give them one hell of a fight. We still have Asakeem. We can use him as a bargaining chip," Callen said.

Then suddenly they realized that they left Asakeem in the chopper with no one to keep watch on him. Callen and Sam went back to the chopper but Asakeem was gone. They made a plan that Callen would go find Asakeem and that Sam and Deeks would get Kensi to safety. Callen left and Deeks and Sam made a stretcher for Kensi to transport her. Callen managed to find Asakeem and he took him to the place where he was going to meet up with Sam and Deeks. They were ambushed and had to fight their way out. Thank god there was a drone that helped them, probably the team from back home they thought. They managed to kill the rest of the group. A little after that the chopper arrived and took them to the ship. Sailors were waiting for them on the deck and quickly transported Kensi to the OR.

"Come, let's go. OR's ready. You're gonna have to wait out here, gentlemen," the doctor spoke as he stopped Deeks.

"No, no, no, I'm not gonna leave her."

Sam put his hand on Deeks' arm.

"We got her."

"Hey, Deeks, they got this," Sam told him. "You'll only be in the way."

"Come on. Let 'em work," Callen said and they watched as Deeks walked off.

They were all concerned for their teammate and they hoped she would pull through. Callen was glad they had gotten out of there. They stayed there in the hallway outside of the operating room, wanting for an update on Kensi. Finally after what seemed like forever the doctor came out.

"We repaired the damage to her femoral artery and Ortho put an IM rod in the femur. She's got good bounding pedal pulses now."

"She going to Landstuhl?" Sam asked. Landstuhl was a military hospital in Germany. Since they were in Europe that was the closest one for Kensi to get the things she needed.

"Yes. She needs a head CT And an MRI, which we don't have on board."

"Is she awake?" Deeks asked.

"She's still in a coma. We're incorporating therapeutic hypothermia to preserve her brain function. She's gonna be kept cold until after neurosurgery. Assuming she needs it."

"Does she need it?" Callen asked.

"We need the CT and MRI to say for certain."

They watched as sailors carried Kensi passed them on a gurney with a tube in her mouth and a neck brace. Deeks wanted to go with her but no one else was allowed on the chopper, besides Kensi probably wouldn't be there for long. As soon as she had the scans and she was still stable they would transport her back to the States. The three guys watched as two sailors came down the stairs with Asakeem. Asakeem noticed them standing there and looked at them briefly before the sailors took him away.

"I hope he was worth it," Deeks stated.

They would have to wait now until they could catch a ride home.

"The captain would like to see you agent Callen," a sailor spoke as she walked up to them. "You all can get yourself cleaned up. Follow me please."

They freshened up a bit and Callen followed the sailor to the meeting room.

"Ah agent Callen, thank you for joining me, Captain Robert Riley. Please sit down." Callen sat down at the table. "I'm sorry for what happened to your teammate but my doctor said she should be okay."

"Yeah I hope so. Any chance on when we can get out of here?"

"We're putting together the transport to the Naval base in Rota, Spain. From there you can fly back to LA."

"Thank you sir and thank you for taking us in."

"No problem at all. I'll let you know when the transport is up, should be within a few hours."

"Alright thanks. Is it possible to call home?"

"Yes of course. There's a phone right there, you can use that. You can hang out in the mass decks until the transport arrives."

"Alright thank you."

The captain left and Callen went to make some phone calls. He first called Hetty.

"Mr. Callen, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, we're on the Carl Vinson now and Kensi is being transported to Landstuhl as we speak for scans and then she'll go to LA from there."

"How is she doing?"

"She's okay considering. The doctor repaired her leg but we don't know the complete assessment of her injuries until she has had the scans."

"And the rest of you?"

"We got checked out, we're good Hetty."

"Alright, good. I'll make sure Kensi will get the best care."

"Thanks Hetty."

Callen wanted to call Joelle but it was in the middle of the night in LA. The team hung around the mess decks and had some food until they would leave. About three hours later they could leave on the chopper towards Rota. It was around 3pm, Spanish time, when they were in Rota. Their flight would leave at 4pm. It was now 6am in LA. Hopefully Callen could call on the flight. He really wanted to call Joelle but he was afraid he would wake her up and he didn't want to do that. At 4pm sharp the plane took off for Coronado, from Coronado they could take a chopper back to LA. Sam and Callen could both see that Deeks was worried about Kensi, as were they, but for Deeks it was different, Kensi was his girlfriend.

"She's gonna be okay Deeks," Sam told him.

"You don't know that."

"You're right, I don't. But we have to stay positive. Kensi's strong, she's a fighter. She'll pull through this and you're gonna be there for her when she needs to."

Callen impatiently sat watching the clock, waiting for a good time to call Joelle. He would wait until 8am, the babies would probably be up around that time as well. Finally at 5pm Callen felt it was good to call Joelle. He grabbed the phone on the plane and called the number he knew by heart.

"Hello," Joelle answered the phone a little sleepily.

"Hey Jo, sorry did I wake you?"

"G?!" Joelle spoke relieved as she sat up in the bed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"What's wrong?" Joelle could hear that something was wrong by the sound of his voice.

"Kensi got hurt."

"Oh no, is it bad?"

"We're not sure yet."

"What happened?"

"Our chopper got shot down as we were on our way back."

"Oh god," Joelle gasped.

"Don't worry honey, I'm fine, I promise."

"What about Kensi?"

"She's probably already in the States. They operated on her on the ship but she needed to get scans. I don't know how she is."

"I'm so sorry to hear that. Are you sure you're alright? Did you get checked out?"

"I'm fine honey, I promise. Yes we all got checked out. We're okay, just some bruises and aches. I'm fine honey. How are things at home?"

"The babies missed you, they could tell that you were gone."

"I'm sorry I had to leave honey."

"It's not your fault G, it's your job. We both know that. I'm just glad you're alright. When will you be home?"

"I'm on my way home. We left Spain about an hour ago, will be in Coronado around 4pm I think. So I'll be in LA around 5pm."

"Alright. I'll see you then."

"I love you honey, give Jack and Nora a kiss from me."

"I will honey. I love you too. Can't wait to see you again."

"I'll be home before you know it. See you."

"See you."

Callen couldn't wait to be home again and see Joelle and his kids again. He really missed them. He hated leaving them at home, and leaving Joelle alone with them.

Once they were back in LA they first went to the office.

"Any news on Kensi?" Deeks asked Hetty.

"She has settled into the hospital here in LA. The scans looked okay, they can't say the exact damage until Kensi wakes up."

"I gotta go see her."

"Of course Mr. Deeks."

Deeks quickly grabbed his stuff and left.

"Are you two okay?"

"We're fine Hetty," Callen answered. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go home now."

"Of course. I'll see you all on Monday again, you can have the rest of the week off."

"Thank you Hetty."

Callen and Sam quickly grabbed their stuff and went home. Callen was really happy to be going home again. He had only been gone for a few days but he really missed Joelle and their kids. Callen parked the car in the driveway and quickly went into the house.

"Jo," Callen called softly into the house in case Nora and Jack were sleeping.

Callen didn't see her but Jack and Nora were lying in their playpens, peacefully sucking on their pacifiers.


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: Here it is, the last chapter.**

* * *

Joelle heard someone come into the house and then heard Callen call her name. Callen watched as Joelle came walking out of the kitchen.

"G! You're back!" Joelle exclaimed and she ran up to him. She ran into Callen's arms and Callen wrapped his arms around her to pull her in for a hug. "I'm so glad you're back again. I was so worried about you. Especially after you told me what happened to Kensi."

"I'm okay honey, I'm okay. I've missed you."

"I missed you too," Joelle replied, half sobbing.

Callen pulled her up to face him and kissed her deeply. "I love you Jo."

"I love you too G. I'm really glad you're back safe and sound again."

"I'm back Jo and I'm okay, I promise."

They were interrupted by Nora fussing.

"Guess she noticed daddy was home," Joelle said.

"Yeah probably." Callen gave Joelle a quick kiss before walking to the play pens. "Hey little girl, yeah daddy is home again." Callen picked Nora up and gave her a soft kiss on her head. "Daddy missed you. Have you and Jack been good to mommy?"

"Yeah they were sweet, not too much trouble."

"Okay good. Hey little girl, yeah did you noticed daddy was home huh."

Jack started fussing as well so Joelle picked him up. Together they sat on the couch.

"Hey little guy, yeah daddy is home again." Callen gave Jack a kiss too. "Daddy missed you three. Daddy is so happy to be home again."

They just sat there on the couch. Callen was so happy to be back with his family again. He had really missed them. He was glad to be back home again in one piece. He knew that it could have gone very different with the helicopter crash and all. He hoped Kensi would be okay. Callen looked down at Nora in his arms. She was all snuggled up against him. She was such a little cutie, daddy's little princess. And Jack was daddy's little buddy. Callen was so happy to have these two kids with Joelle, their family was perfect and in a few months they would be getting married. Callen really loved how his life had turned out, he had a beautiful fiancé and two beautiful kids. His life was just perfect right now. He was a little bit new to being a father but he was loving it. He always loved to come home from work and see Jack and Nora.

A little later Nora started fussing so Callen took her into the kitchen to warm up a bottle for her. When he came back into the living room Joelle was breastfeeding Jack and Callen sat next to her and fed Nora. After Callen was finished feeding Nora he put her back in her play pen and went to the kitchen to fix diner but Nora wasn't having any of it. As soon as Callen put her down she started fussing.

"Hey, it's okay little girl. Daddy is just in the kitchen. You wanna come with daddy?" Callen took her to the kitchen and put her on the counter in her bouncy chair. "There, that's better huh. Daddy is right here, daddy's not going anywhere."

Nora lay peacefully in her bouncy chair as Callen cooked dinner. After dinner Callen went upstairs and put Nora to bath and bed and then did the same with Jack.

"They're asleep?" Joelle asked once Callen came back down again.

"Yeah they are."

"Good." Callen sat on the part of the couch with the ottoman attached to it. "I'm just gonna go clean up a bit."

"I'll do that later, right now I wanna sit here with my lovely fiancé," Callen said as he pulled Joelle back towards him.

Joelle sat in between Callen's legs with her back against his chest and Callen wrapped his arms around her.

"I've missed you," Callen spoke to her.

"I've missed you too. I'm glad you're back again."

"Me too."

"How's Kensi? Is she gonna be okay?"

"Too soon to tell. We have to wait till she wakes up till we know what the full damage is."

"Poor Marty, I can't imagine what he must be going through. If that had been you lying there I don't know what I would do."

"I'm okay honey, I promise. I'm okay. I didn't get hurt much. I'm alright honey. I'm right here. I promise you, I will come back to you every time."

"You better."

"I will Jo, I promise. I'm not gonna leave you alone with Jack and Nora."

"Okay good."

Joelle snuggled into Callen's arms and together they watched some TV. Callen was so happy to be back home again, to be back with his family again. He had missed them. He loved Jack and Nora so much and they were so freaking cute. He couldn't wait to get married to Joelle. He loved her so much and he was so thankful to have her in his life.

They enjoyed lying there on the couch in each other's arms. Callen noticed after a while that Joelle had fallen asleep, but it was only for a short will since Jack had decided to start crying.

"I'll get him," Callen spoke and he got up from the couch before walking upstairs. "Hey little man, what's wrong? It's okay daddy's here," Callen said as he picked Jack up. "Ah I see, you have a wet diaper. It's okay, daddy's gonna change you." Callen took him over to the changing table and changed his diaper. "Yeah that's better huh buddy."

Callen gave Jack his pacifier and rocked him back to sleep in his arms before putting him back in his crib. Just as he wanted to walk downstairs Nora woke up too. She had a wet diaper as well so Callen changed hers as well before going back downstairs. Callen and Joelle enjoyed the rest of the evening on the couch before going to bed. Callen fed Jack and Joelle fed Nora before going to sleep.

Once they were in bed Joelle crawled against Callen and lay her head down on his chest as Callen wrapped his arm around her.

"I'm so glad you're back home again. The bed was empty without you. I missed you next to me at night."

"Me too honey. Goodnight Jo."

"Goodnight G."

Callen gave Joelle a kiss before they went to sleep. Callen fell asleep shortly after, it was good to be in his own bed again and to have Joelle next to him. A few hours later they were woken up when they heard a cry over the monitor.

"I'll go," Callen spoke and gave Joelle a quick kiss before getting out of bed.

Callen looked at the baby monitors and saw that it was Jack who was crying. They had two different baby monitors. They had video monitors, Jack's was blue and Nora's was pink. Callen walked to Jack's room.

"Hey it's okay buddy, daddy's here." Callen picked Jack up from his crib. "Shhh, it's okay Jack. Daddy's here. What's wrong buddy?" Callen felt if he had a dirty diaper but that wasn't the case. Callen tried to get Jack to suck on his pacifier again but he wouldn't take it. "What's wrong buddy? Are you hungry little guy?" Callen took him downstairs and grabbed a bottle from the fridge before warming it up. "Shhh, it's okay buddy. It's coming." Once the bottle was warm Callen sat down on the kitchen chair and tested if the milk wasn't too hot before putting the pacifier in Jack's mouth. Jack immediately started sucking. "There, that's better."

Jack finished the entire bottle. Callen put Jack over his shoulder to burp him. Once Jack had burped Callen walked upstairs with him. He sat down in the rocking chair with Jack on his shoulder and he rocked him back to sleep. Once Jack was back asleep Callen gently put him back in his crib. When he walked back to the bedroom he saw a light coming from Nora's room. He walked to Nora's room and found Joelle in the rocking chair feeding Nora.

"Hey, did she wake you?"

"It's okay G. Did Jack eat well?"

"Yes he finished the entire bottle."

"That's good."

"Want me to burp her so you can go back to sleep?"

"Nah, it's okay. You go back to bed, I'll be there shortly."

Callen gave Nora a soft kiss on her head before leaving. Callen got back into the bed and Joelle joined him a little later.

"Did they wake up a lot when I was gone?"

"A couple times at night. Usually right after each other."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here honey."

"It's okay. You had a job to do, but I'm glad you're home again."

"Me too."

Not an hour later they were woken up again. Callen jumped out of bed and saw that it was Nora who was crying. He walked to Nora's bedroom and picked her up.

"Hey it's okay little girl, daddy's here." Callen noticed Nora had a dirty diaper so he changed her diaper before putting her back in the crib. As soon as Callen put her down Nora started fussing again so Callen picked her up again and sat down in the rocking chair to rock her back to sleep. "Shh, it's okay sweetie. Daddy's here, daddy is not going anywhere. Daddy is right here. Go back to sleep sweetie."

When Nora started falling asleep Callen placed her back in her crib again but as soon as Callen released her she started crying again. Callen decided to take Nora with him to the bedroom. When he returned to the bedroom Joelle was already asleep again. Callen lay down on the bed and lay Nora down on his chest.

"It's okay sweetie, daddy is right here. Go back to sleep sweetie," Callen spoke softly.

Nora fell asleep soon. Callen lay awake just looking at his little girl asleep on his chest. She probably fussed every time he put her down because she had missed her daddy. Now that she was lying on Callen's chest she slept again. Callen didn't mind to stay awake, just as long as Nora slept.

Joelle woke up the next morning and saw Callen lying next to her with Nora on his chest.

"Good morning Grisha," Joelle spoke softly.

Callen looked her way once Joelle spoke. "Good morning Joelle."

Joelle shifted closer and gave Callen a kiss. "Nora didn't want to go to sleep in her crib last night?"

"No, every time I put her down she started fussing again so I brought her here. After I lay down with her here she slept through."

"That's good. Yeah, I guess she missed daddy."

"Yeah I guess so."

"You're a great daddy for bringing her here then so she could sleep."

"Yeah, I just couldn't leave her fussing and this is more comfortable then the rocking chair."

Joelle lay her head down on Callen's shoulder and together they looked at their little girl lying on Callen's chest. Slowly Nora started waking up as well. She tried to lift her head and yawned. Callen turned her so she could see Joelle as well.

"Hey little girl, did you enjoy laying here with daddy huh? You're a lucky little girl."

Joelle gave Nora a soft kiss. The three of them lay there for a while until they heard Jack crying over the monitor. Joelle got up and picked him up from his crib before taking him to the bedroom as well. Callen had sat up against the headboard with Nora in his arms and Joelle sat down next to him with Jack in her arms.

"Look at us sitting here right now, with our two little babies," Joelle spoke.

"Yeah, it's not something I thought I'd ever have but I'm very happy that I do. I love you three."

"We love you too and you're a great daddy."

…..

It was almost Christmas. Jack and Nora were three months old now. Callen and Joelle had settled into a good routine and they loved to have the kids around. They were both so cute. Nora was a real daddy's girl. She had Callen wrapped around her little finger. It was so cute to see the two of them together. Jack and Nora started sleeping through the night about a week ago, which Joelle and Callen were happy about.

Since this was their first family Christmas Callen and Joelle had decided to stay at home on Christmas eve and Christmas day they would go to Joelle's parents.

Callen and Joelle had made some changes to their home. They had made a laundry room downstairs. The washing machine and dryer were already in the garage but now they made a separate room in the garage and one that was heated so it wouldn't be so could there when they were folding and ironing. They had also made a half bathroom in the garage with just a toilet with soft yellow tiles. They had also changed their upstairs bathroom. It only had a shower now and they wanted a tub in that one as well. They had changed the entire bathroom. The floor and the bottom part of the walls were white granite with gray markings. The top parts of the walls were ocean blue tiles, except for the shower and the behind the bath. On the wall behind the bath they had put a tropical island wall mural. The shower was completely granite. The vanity was still on the right side. They had a double vanity. The doors on the cupboards were white wood and the top was the same granite as the floor. The edge of the square mirror hanging above the vanity was the same granite as well. To the left on of the door was the bathtub. They had picked a built in whirlpool tub, the walls surrounding the bathtub were white granite as well. The shower was behind the bathtub. The door and windows were glass and they had a rain shower. There was a hole in the wall to put the shampoos on. The toilet was next to the vanity, underneath the window. They had made a little wall there to built-in the toilet. The wall was ocean blue tiles and the toilet was white. They bought a blue plastic set with white floral decorations on it. The set contained a waste basket, soap dispenser, toothbrush holder, tumbler, soap dish, cotton wool holder and a toilet brush. They had silver handles on the walls for the toilet paper and towels and a wall heating unit. On the wall above the toilet they placed two blue rattan baskets for the supplies.

The house was already decorated for Christmas. The Christmas tree they had placed on the right side of the fire place, in the corner. On the fireplace mantle hung the stockings and several Christmas decorations stood around the house and on the railing of the stairs hung a tree string with lights. Callen had decorated the outside as well. There were some lights on the fence, above the garage, doorway and windows. In the corner near the door stood a LED Santa with sled and on the lawn stood several reindeers. In the bushes hung some lights as well. Callen was really looking forward to his first real family Christmas. He was really loving to having Jack and Nora around.

…

It was the day of Christmas Eve. Jack and Nora had decided to wake up early.

"You stay in bed honey, I'll take them out," Callen told Joelle.

"Okay."

Callen gave Joelle a soft kiss before getting the kids. Nora was still quiet in her crib so Callen went to get Jack first.

"Good morning little buddy."

Callen took Jack out of his crib and gave him a kiss. Jack was wearing his grey and red striped pajamas with a Santa on it. Callen took him to the changing table and changed his diaper before dressing him. Callen put a white bodysuit with red edges and My first visit from Santa on it on Jack. Callen dressed him in a pair of green and white striped pants and a red sweater with green collar and two reindeer and snowflakes on it. On his feet Callen put Santa slippers. He took Jack to Nora's bedroom.

"Good morning little girl."

He sat Jack down in Nora's crib and went to dress Nora. Nora was wearing a red pair of pajamas with Santas on it. Callen changed Nora's diaper first and put the same bodysuit as Jack had one. Callen dressed Nora in a red tunic with a white fur vest with red bow over it and white leggings with red bows on the bottom and Santa slippers on her feet. Callen picked Nora and Jack up and took them downstairs. Callen put them in their high chairs and went to get breakfast for them. They had started giving them jars for about a week now and Nora and Jack loved it. Jack was playing with a soft book so Callen fed Nora first. Once Nora had finished eating Callen fed Jack. Just as he was done feeding Jack Joelle came downstairs.

"Good morning my sweeties," Joelle spoke as she walked into the kitchen. "Oh my god! Don't you look cute. Aww daddy dressed you well."

Joelle gave both kids a soft kiss on their heads and gave Callen a kiss as well. Once they had eaten breakfast Joelle went to the store. Callen stayed at home with the kids. Callen took out the baby gyms and put Jack and Nora under it. They had grown quite a bit already and they started sitting up by themselves. As of this week they had started babbling too, it was so cute to hear.

It took Joelle a while to get back from the store since it was pretty busy.

"You need a hand?" Callen asked when Joelle walked in with the groceries.

"No thanks, I got it."

In the afternoon Joelle was in the kitchen preparing dinner while Callen was watching the kids before putting them to bed for their afternoon nap. Callen walked into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Joelle from behind.

"I'm really looking forward to our first family Christmas," Callen stated.

"Me too. I'm really loving the family life we have."

"Yeah me too. I feel so blessed to have you three."

"You're a great daddy, Jack and Nora really love you."

"And what about mommy?"

"Mommy too."

"Good."

Callen moved Joelle's hair aside and started kissing her neck.

"G, I'm making dinner."

"I know, you can keep doing that."

"You know what this does to me." Callen smirked against her skin. Oh yes, he knew all too well. "Besides, I don't want our first time after the babies to be like this. Tonight I promise."

"Why not now and again tonight?" Callen voiced seductively. "I've missed making love to you."

"I know honey, I've missed that too. But I need to prepare dinner. Tonight, I promise."

"Alright," Callen gave in. "Tonight you're all mine."

"I can't wait."

"I'll make sure you won't forget it."

Callen turned Joelle around and kissed her deeply before going back to the living room. Joelle really wanted to make love to Callen again but they had agreed to wait till Christmas evening. But damn him, he knew the exact buttons to push. She really wanted him but she wanted their first time after the babies to be special, not just a quickie. Joelle tried to shook the thoughts off and focused on dinner.

Before Callen and Joelle had dinner they fed Jack and Nora and put them to bed. Callen put soft Christmas music on and lit some candles on the dinner table. Joelle had made them a nice meal of stuffed chicken, mashed potatoes and haricot verts. As dessert she had made cheese cake with Christmas decorations.

"Hmm dinner was really delicious," Callen spoke once they were finished.

"Thank you."

They cleaned up before moving to the living room. Callen moved the coffee table aside and went to put the fireplace on as Joelle put some blankets and pillows on the floor. Callen and Joelle lay down on the blankets with the fireplace on and the Christmas music playing. The only other lights in the house were the Christmas lights.

"Thank you for giving me such a wonderful family," Callen told Joelle.

"You're welcome, and to think I almost threw this all away."

"Yeah, I'm glad you decided to come back and look at where we are now. I love you so much."

"I love you too."

Callen pulled Joelle to him and kissed her deeply. He pushed her down so she was lying on her back and he lay down on top of her. They kept kissing as they removed each other clothes. Once they were both naked Callen pulled the blanket over them.

"Please be gently okay, it's the first time after the babies."

"I will Jo."

Callen made sure Joelle was ready for him before pushing in. It felt so good to make love to her again, he had really missed that. They made love for a few rounds downstairs before going upstairs. They wanted to start another round but the babies decided to start crying. They put their robes on and Callen went to Nora's bedroom and Joelle went to Jack's. They changed the babies' diapers before going back to their bedroom. They had some more fun in the bed.

"Merry Christmas Jo," Callen spoke once they lay in each other's arms afterwards.

"Merry Christmas Grisha."

Joelle gave Callen one more kiss before they fell asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

 **The end. Thank you for reading and reviewing. Hope you liked it. Don't worry, there will be a sequel.**


End file.
